U17 World Cup: Mexico U17 1-1 Iraq U17 - Game of frustrations as El Tri and Lion cubs' coaches believe profligacy the real culprit

Mexico U17 were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Iraq U-17 in their Group F match in Kolkata, on Sunday, 8th October.

The Iraqis opened the scoring in the 19th minute, before the Mexicans' Roberto De La Rosa slotted the ball past the keeper and equalize proceedings on the night.

"We managed a draw today that's fine. This is football, you win, draw or lose. These things happen in the game. We are looking forward to our next game," revealed a frustrated El Tri coach,

On threat imposed by Dawood, Iraq's star-boy who opened the scoring for the West Asians, the gaffer explained, "We knew already that he was a good player. He has skill, pace, power and can score. We came prepared for Dawood. Unfortunately, he scored the opening goal. That's ok. We are looking forward now."

On change of tactics (attacking) in the second half, the 46 year-old opined, "It is always to difficult to begin a World Cup. Players were nervous which is obvious. For the first 20 or 25 minutes they were on the back foot. As the game progressed they gained momentum and took control. They needed time to compose."

England await on the horizon for Mario Acreages' boys, as he concluded, "It is a very tough match of course. They are a very good team. We kind of expected what England did today. But we are also ready and I am sure England will not have an easy match next day against us."

Iraq's coach Qahtan Jathir seemed to belie his content for the scoreline in the match and was also critical of his team's profligacy, stating, "We wanted the full three points and to score more goals. But we lost several chances. The Mexican team has very good players. At the end of the day, we are happy with a point."

The gaffer was also dissatisfied with his team's preparation and run-in ahead of the tournament, "Our training was not well organized. I wanted to train in Europe with better facilities but we did not have the money. Now I cannot complain, we have to focus on the games with whatever little preparation we got."

Finally, the coach of the current Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) U16 champions, 2016, concluded, "Both England and Chile are good teams. We face Chile next. They are a good team with quality players. I hope we will do well against them in next game."