The UAE U-17 team has a chance at winning the Fifa U-17 World Cup championships in the Emirates from October 17 to November 8, said the team’s coach.

The past few months has seen the UAE U-17 team train regularly with preparation camps in Turkey, Austria and Malaysia, added Coach Rashid Amir.

“The Mexico team will definitely be a force to reckon with, but the UAE team is ready to take on that challenge. Recently, the team has been playing friendlies against the older age groups in a bid to prepare the players physically and mentally for what they might be up against in two months,” Amir said.

“You’ve got some of the world’s football powerhouses including reigning champions Mexico qualified and playing those teams will not be easy. However, I am confident that the Whites have an equal chance of winning this tournament.”

On the other side, the Mexico team has been training just as hard to prepare for the Fifa U-17 World Cup this year. Two years after their spectacular tournament win on home soil, the talented Mexicans will soon face a new challenge in the shape of UAE 2013.

Coach Raul Gutierrez said: “There are many aspects involved in being a teacher. One of them, didactics, which is the art or science of teaching, shows the different approaches you can take to demonstrate a concept or deliver a lesson. In my time as a coach, this has helped me to get across my ideas – for what should happen on the pitch – in different ways and with greater clarity.”

The Mexican’s ability to teach combines well with one of the key areas of his current work: encouraging players’ mental strength.

“We all have people who we admire for their work and abilities,” he said. “Usually those people have good ideas. I’m of the opinion that people can take the ideas of these role models, apply them in their own way and make them even better.” – TradeArabia News Service