DUBAI // At long last, and after 358 minutes of Group E action, someone took hold of the tournament’s tightest pool and refused to let go.
A run of three draws in the opening three matches seemed destined to be extended at Dubai’s Rashid Stadium, yet Leonardo Suarez found enough legs to secure the most vital of three points in Argentina’s 3-2 win over Austria on Tuesday night.
For Humberto Grondona, the Argentina coach, the night seemed to have extracted his last reserves of energy. He surfaced heavy and hoarse after the match, almost unable to raise a smile.
“For sure, I will relax a little bit more when I get back to the hotel, maybe with smile on my face, but for now I’m very tired,” he said.
If it was not the absorbing encounter that eked everything from Grondona, perhaps it is the weight of expectation that accompanies managing a country steeped in footballing success.
Even at a Fifa Under 17 World Cup, Argentina are regarded as a proverbial powerhouse, and that they entered the event as officially South America’s strongest team must only accentuates the strain.
“Of course, we’re satisfied with the win,” Grondona said.
“But we want more, to win championships and always achieve more. And if you are to achieve more, you have to think about the next match.”
Before thoughts turned to that assignment, against Canada on Friday, Grondona paid respect to a spirited Austrian side, who initially took the lead through Nikola Zivotic and then fought back from goals by Joaquin Ibanez and German Ferreyra when Tobias Pellegrini applied a calm finish on 79 minutes.
Suarez, though, proved too lively in the final minutes, lifting a deflected shot over Alexander Schlager as he advanced from the opposition goal.
“I’m extremely proud of the performance of my boys,” said Hermann Stadler, the defeated coach. “They are understandably sad and angry with the result, but it’s now the duty of the coaching staff to get them ready, mentally as well, for Iran.
“And with the performance today, we’ll have our chances against Iran.”
Likewise, the Iranians will approach Friday’s final group match knowing chances must be taken if they are to progress.
Earlier in the evening, they contributed to yet another draw, with Amirhossein Karimi exchanging strikes with Canada’s Jordan Hamilton to ensure the score finished 1-1.
The outcome means the two teams are locked on a pair of points, extending Canada’s winless run in the competition to 14. They realise things have to change against Argentina this weekend.
“Up to the last U17 World Cup, we’d never gained a point and now we’ve gone four in a row with draws,” said Sean Fleming, the Canada coach.
“But we’re not satisfied with that. We definitely want to get a win against Argentina and we definitely want to advance from the group. But we have to be better, for sure.”
Ali Doustimehr, his Iranian counterpart, added: “There is nothing we cannot do, but football is always unpredictable.
“In this group all teams have a chance to qualify for the next round and our next match is a very hard one. But we’ll do our best and are hopeful and ambitious enough to qualify.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae