On how the team has been in its preparations after arriving in Chile in advance of the game tomorrow against Nigeria?
“We arrived on Monday. It was an overnight trip from the United States. We've had four really good sharp training sessions over the last four days. Yesterday we were able to train in the National Stadium where our first match will be.
On Saturday, we were able to get into the stadium for one hour for training, which we think was a great experience for the players. We'll headed out Friday evening for a final training session until our game tonight.”
On scouting his team’s opponents and his expectations of Nigeria in the opening game?
“It’s not always an easy task in terms of getting video of youth teams around the world, but we were able to get ahold of some matches that Nigeria's played in qualifying and some other tournaments. We have been able to scout them, which has been very helpful. In terms of Nigeria, a very talented team, they have a great history in the U-17 World Cup and are four-time winners and I think two other finalists. We have our hands full, they're a good team, they're talented. We have to be prepared and ready to go. We're excited about having the opportunity to play the defending champions in the first game of the tournament in Santiago in the National Stadium.”
On what for you constitutes a successful tournament and whether there is any particular benchmark that he is looking for?
“For us, we've spoken to the players taking one game at a time, not to look ahead. Then, our first goal, like anybody here is to advance out of the group. That's the only way you're going to move forward is getting out of the group, and then again taking it one game at a time. We want to come out and we want to play well. We want to compete. We want to go leave it out on the field and at the end of the day we talk to the players and say if they try to do things the right way, things that we've worked on over the last two years,
we're going to get positive results.
“Again, our goal, just like any team here which should be their goal is we don't go to any tournament saying, ‘We want to come in second place.’ Our goal is to come here and win the World Cup. If any team says anything different, they shouldn't be here. Our goal is to win the World Cup. Again, we're going to take one game at a time and then our first goal is to get out of the group and get into the knockout stages.”
On the team’s confidence and if it will take a hit with a tough game against Nigeria?
“No. I think [qualifying] was a good experience. They had to deal with pressure where you guys put on a lot of expectations on that group because they had such a successful two years and basically didn't go as planned. We played very, very well for long periods of time and obviously didn't get the result that we needed in the second to last game. Then, against Jamaica we had to go to penalties. You hope that the experiences help them develop and grow and to understand that in soccer there's going to be tough games and you've got to perform and take your opportunities when you can. If you have to win through penalties, you win through penalties. I think it's helped them and gave them valuable experience. Again, we're going to go out today. We have three games in the group. Again, we'll take it one game at a time and we plan on having a good game against Nigeria, and then moving on to the next one.”
