FIFA U17 World Cup: 5 things that went wrong for India

#3 Physical inferiority

Yes, size does matter. The way India were outmuscled in all of their matches, especially by Ghana, it was a given that they would not be able to hold their own.

Even Luis Norton de Matos conceded that it was perhaps the only weakness of his team. “You cannot be a good gymnast if you are very tall or you cannot be an excellent basketball player if you are of 160 metres. For certain positions, height and size do matter,” he had said.

Of course, there is Diego Maradona, who despite his short stature ruled the world. There are Lionel Messi, Neymar and a few others but those happen to be exceptions. But what happens when the entire team is meagre and weak in comparison to the opposition? You get thrashed.