Dubai: Iraq coach Muwafaq Adlool says his team will have learned a great deal from their Fifa Under-17 World Cup experience despite being knocked out without scoring a point.
Adlool’s team finished bottom of Group F after going down 4-1 to Sweden, 3-1 against defending champions Mexico and 5-0 to three-time winners Nigeria on Friday.
Afterwards the coach said: “This World Cup was definitely a huge learning experience for us all. We came and played against some of the best footballing nations in the world and we have gained so much more besides the experience of actually playing against such quality teams.
“This tournament has been a good experience for Iraqi football, especially when you consider that your opponents are former world champions with a history of football. This simply means so much of a learning curve for these boys.”
Iraq shipped two goals in a minute early in their final group match against Nigeria on their way to a five-goal defeat. “The result may be a bit misguiding,” Adlool said. “I think we played well despite being down by those two early goals.
“We had a plan in mind to match Nigeria, but that fell through after those two early strikes from them. But I still feel this competition has been a great experience for the boys, who I believe will continue improving at various age levels.”
Adlool admitted one of the major drawbacks in the Iraq’s preparation for the tournament was the team’s participation in the AFC U-20 Asian qualifiers alongside minnows like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kuwait from October 8-12.
“We should have prepared better. I think we played against less experienced and less strong teams. As an after-thought, I now realise that we should have probably prepared better to participate in an important competition like this World Cup,” he said.
“However, I still believe that this team has benefitted on many counts. After we return, this team will continue progressing into higher age groups and you will see a lot of them in the near future representing Iraq.”
