The event mainly aims at preparing kids for the upcoming 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be held in India for the first time.
Hosted by the Union Sports and Youth Services ministry in partnership with Football Federation of India, the event witnessed more than 1,000 kids from schools across Odisha participating in small-sided games, fun activities and skills workshops throughout the day.
Footballer Shradhanjali Samantray, former captain of the Indian women's national football team, kicked off the event. State Sports Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera and Sports Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev were also present on the occasion.
"Football is a popular sport in the country and much loved in the state of Odisha. The interest that Mission XI Million programme has generated has been outstanding so far," said Behera.
Joy Bhattacharjya, project director of local organising committee, 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, said, "The dream to reach out to 11 million kids in the country through the beautiful game, slowly seems to be coming true."
Mission XI Million, the school-contact programme, had started across the country in February this year will reach Guwahati and Lucknow later this month.
"South Korea are one of the teams touted to win the AFC U-16 Championship and the match against them will be the most challenging ninety minutes that any one of us has ever faced. Korea Republic are the overwhelming favourites," Bibiano told www.the-aiff.com.
"They are tactically very agile and have swift players in almost all positions who are capable of catching the opponent defence off guard. However, we were underestimated in our 1-0 win over Iraq in the Four-Nation Tournament and we were underestimated in the group stages of the AFC U-16 Championship. But here we are, we will give everything that we have in the match against Korea Republic," he said.
After advancing through the group stages of the AFC U-16 Championship for the first time in 16 years, the Indian U-16 national team is aiming high.
With just a win away from qualification to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru next year, the squad is apprehensive about the challenge that lies ahead.
"Everybody in the squad including the staff knows the gravity of our quarter-final bout. The boys have sacrificed a lot for these coming ninety minutes and have worked tirelessly day in and day out for the same. This is the moment that they have been preparing for, almost their whole lives till now," Bibiano said.
"The gravity of the moment is immense and everybody is apprehensive of what it means and what it can mean for Indian football."
India has never defeated Korea Republic in any format in football, but Bibiano said if the team, which has drawn many plaudits for their performance, plays to their strength they can give their more illustrious rivals a run for their money.
"We are raring to go. It would not be easy but it would be worth it. If we play to our strengths, we can give them a run for their money. We will fight."
Are missed chances in front of the goal still a major concern?
"We are creating chances at will and we created some of the best goal scoring opportunities of the match against both Iran and Indonesia. If we had taken those chances we could have won both matches," Bibiano opined.
"All of those matches are past and we are working on our finishing in the training sessions. Going ahead we cannot afford to be complacent in front of goal in the knock out matches. That will hurt us very badly," he added.
This is in line with FIFA's objective to further develop women's football.
Staubli is one of seven women referees invited to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India where all the male and female match officials, nominated by FIFA's Referees Committee, have completed a host of activities together in a series of seminars, including theoretical sessions in the classroom and practical sessions on the field of play.
That FIFA has selected female referees for a men's tournament is a logical consequence of an education programme that FIFA's Refereeing Department started in 2016.
The positive results and improvements seen in the joint preparations have shown that the time has come for elite female referees to officiate in men's competitions together with their male colleagues.
Lincoln (56th minute) and Paulinho (61st) struck after the break to save the blushes for Brazil after the Koreans put in a stout defensive performance to frustrate the title favourites from South America in the first half.
Brazil, who have virtually secured a place in the next round. are now at the top of the group with six points from two matches. They should go through as one of the best third placed teams even if they lose their final group match against Niger.
Even in case of a defeat to Niger, the Brazilians could still finish at the top of the group if they concede less than two goals and the North Koreans upset Spain.
The Brazilians were held at bay by the Koreans in the first half, although they had their first clear chance as early as the first minute when Korean goalkeeper Sin Tae Song brilliantly denied Lincoln in a one-on-one situation.
But clear chances were hard to come by for Brazil thereafter as the Koreans adopted an ultra defensive strategy and focused on reducing the pace of the game.
Brazil finally broke the Korean resistance shortly after the restart when Lincoln headed home the rebound after North Korea goalkeeper Sin Tae Song rushed out to parry a free kick.
Paulinho doubled the lead after the hour mark when he met an excellent through ball with a superb finish.
Sadiq Ibrahim scored the only goal of the game in the 39th minute to give Ghana three points for the win.
The boys from Africa seemed more at ease in the hot and humid conditions than their Colombian counterparts. Despite the stifling heat, the two-time champions produced impressive pace which troubled the Colombian defence on several occasions.
Both teams created plenty of scoring chances although Ghana enjoyed the upper hand.
Ghana had the first clear chance in the 15th minute when Sadiq powered a diagonal long ranger from the left wing which was blocked by Colombia goalkeeper Kevin Mier at his near post.
Colombia struck back at the other end with an effort going inches wide of the post. A couple of minutes later, Colombia's Leandro Campaz made a solo run, dribbling past the Ghana defence before his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim.
Ghana missed a sure goal in the 26th minute when an unmarked Sadiq headed a cross from the left by Eric Ayiah over the bar from the edge of the six yard box.
Sadiq did manage to find the net in the very next minute but the goal was ruled offside.
The hunt for the opening goal ended in the 39th minute off a fast counter attack when Ayiah placed a pass across the mouth of the goal and Sadiq tapped in at the far post.
Sadiq created another entertaining piece of football when he dribbled past Colombia defender Juan Penaloza and barged into the penalty box from the right before producing a back pass which was powered over the bar by Mohammed Kudus.
Emmanuel Toku created another chance for the Africans in the 73rd minute when his through into the Colombia penalty box found Eric Ayah whose attempt was blocked by Mier.
Mier was forced to make another save a couple of minutes later when he kept out Mohammed Aminu's shot at his near post.
Colombia almost found the equaliser off a counter attack in the 81st minute when left winger Deiber Caicedo latched on to pass from the midfield and made a speedy run into the Ghana penalty box.
His shot beat Ghana goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim but was inches wide of the post.
Unfortunately for the South Americans, that was the last chance they would manage in this game as Ghana started their bid for a third title on a winning note.
The first match will be played in the city on October 8.
"In the name of beautification of the city, nearly 5,000 hawkers have already been forcefully evicted from the Dumdum airport and Salt Lake area while another 2,500 might be evicted in the next few days. According to our estimation, nearly 10,000 hawkers and their respective families are affected by this eviction drive," said Shaktiman Ghosh, General Secretary, National Hawkers Federation and Hawkers Sangram Samiti.
"As a symbolic protest against such unlawful evictions, we will organise a massive protest rally from Sealdah to the Salt Lake stadium before the first match here on Sunday. If the police stop us, we will continue our agitation there."
Asserting that they are supportive of events like the football world cup in the city, Ghosh said that celebrations should not be organised at the cost of poor people's livelihood.
The Joint Forum Against Evictions, constituted of hawkers, students and slum dwellers organisations, also demanded the immediate implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014, by the West Bengal government to protect the rights of the hawkers and constitute a town vending committee that would issue identity cards to the street vendors.
According to the other representatives of the forum, over 50 percent of the slums in and around Salt Lake have been broken by the Bidhannagar Municipal Authority on the pretext of beautification of the city ahead of the football world cup.
The forum also demanded that the state government and the municipal authorities immediately stall evictions and talk to the representatives to work out a rehabilitation programme for those who have been evicted.
"Even the Calcutta Corporation has displaced the slum dwellers from both sides of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The number of affected slum dwellers is nearly 25,000. Threat of forceful displacement is looming over another 25,000 people," said Sushovan Paul, a representative of the Joint Forum Against Evictions.
He said a state government that rode to power with the promise of "no eviction without rehabilitation" is now using the FIFA tournament as a tool to kick out the poor.
"They have said the displacement of these people is permanent and they would not be allowed to stay there even after the world cup. This is condemnable," he added.
Ranked 400th in the "2016 Forbes Global 2000" ranking of the world's biggest companies, NTPC is India's largest energy conglomerate. The company is also involved in a wide range of projects including basic infrastructure development, education, community health & sanitation, capacity-building and gender empowerment.
Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited is a leader in cement manufacturing and in creating and implementing green and eco-friendly solutions.
Local Organising Committee (LOC) Chairman and All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel said: "The support that we are getting from the Indian industry is truly heartening. NTPC has shown its commitment to building the nation through sport.
"Dalmia has shown its commitment to the future of Indian youth with its partnership with the FIFA U-17 World Cup. We welcome them and salute their commitment."
FIFA Director of Marketing Services Jean-François Pathy said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have such a prestigious firm as NTPC joining our sponsorship programme for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
"FIFA is (also) delighted to join forces with Dalmia and to see a leading company embracing the full potential of football in India."
These two firms join Bank of Baroda, Hero MotoCorp and Coal India Limited as National Supporters, according to a FIFA release.
From defender Ismael Issaka who plays for Niger club ASCBK to midfielder Habibou Sofiane who plies his trade for home outfit AS Renaissance, the African side has in its ranks as many as five players born on January 1, 2000 which is the age cap to be part of the U-17 meet.
The other three players are midfielder Yacouba Aboubacar who plays for JS Tahoua, defender Rachid Soumana who dons the jersey of Tudu Mighty Jets FC in Ghana and striker Ibrahim Boubacar who turns out for Soniantcha FC.
Niger are one of three teams making their tournament debut this year, together with hosts India and New Caledonia.
They are the 20th African side to take part in the U-17 World Cup, making the Confederation of African Football (CAF) the second-most represented confederation in the competition, behind UEFA which has fielded 22 sides.
Together with Mali, Niger were the last side to qualify for the finals, beating Tanzania 1-0 on May 21 in the first round of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, where they eventually finished fourth.
Besides the five Niger footballers, Costa Rican midfielder Andres Hernandez, who represents Deportivo Saprissa, was born on the same date alongwith German forward Nicolas Kuehn, who plays for RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga.
Midfielder Abbas Ali (Al Hussein SC) of Iraq and Korea DPR defender Cha Kwang (Pyongyang International Footba) also fall in the same bracket.
Turkey's defender Sahan Akyuz, whose club is I'd Altinordu FK, completes the list.
Coming to the youngest player in the tournament, defender Guinea's Issiaga Camara was born on December 20, 2002.
In fact, Guinea has two more rookies with forward Fandje Toure born on November 1, 2002 and goalkeeper Ibrahima Sylla born on December 7, 2002.
Guinea are one of the six sides in India that participated in the inaugural edition in 1985 in China, the others being Brazil, Germany, Mexico, USA and Costa Rica.
Guinea eventually placed fourth, their best showing in their four previous campaigns.
Fans who have booked their tickets online now have the chance to redeem their booked tickets at the counter, and can also purchase Category two and three tickets, a statement from the Local Organising Committee (LOC) said.
The Box Office will remain operational from 10 a.m. in the morning till 5 p.m. in the evening until the end of matches in Guwahati October 25. The timings are however subject to change during the match days.
Speaking about the physical sale of tickets, Tournament Director for the Local Organising Committee, Javier Ceppi said, "We know the high interest and demand that people from all around the northeast have for the tickets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 matches.
"In that sense, we wanted to establish a point of sale and redemption that could cater to the needs of people that would be travelling for the games as well, so ISBT was the ideal location. We hope that fans can come and redeem their tickets as soon as possible, so that their only preoccupation on matchday is how to best enjoy the matches."
Guwahati is set to host nine matches which include six group stages, one round of 16, one quarter-final along with one of the semi-finals of the first FIFA tournament in the country.
"We are prepared for the tournament. What we want and try is to stay 100 per cent focused, concentrated. We need to be good with our tactical sense of the game. Sometimes the big question is play well and lose or play not so well and win. So we need to get a mix of the two," Matos said after Hero MotoCorp Chairman, MD and CEO Pawan Munjal wished the squad best of luck at an event in a hotel here.
"We are going to try and put our strong points in the game, especially during the decisive moments like free-kicks, corners, losing balls near our box," the Portuguese tactician added.
"We want to have success by different process. We have changed some approach of play. It is very important to defend well and especially, not to concede goal early in a match). Defence is the starting point of success. If you don't concede goals, you never lose. We will try to play in transitions. We need to cover the spaces well."
India have been drawn in Group A of the FIFA U-17 World Cup along side the United States, Colombia and Ghana.
The Indian boys face the US on October 6, before locking horns with Colombia and Ghana on October 9 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.
"These three sides are very different but very strong, when we compare to our level and experience. We can compare their game to our intensity, focus and organisation. And if we manage to these three things well, we can fight," Matos said.
India will compete in a FIFA World cup for the first time across any age-group.
Matos said that his wards are always stay positive. Describing his current mood, Mato said: "There are three words in my mind for now. Faith, hope -- which is to connect to dream and all the dream is possible, and love -- we must love what we are doing. Everybody is very very focused. There are no impossible missions.
"At 1997 U-17 World Cup in Egypt, New Zealand lost 0-13 to Spain. But they have been qualifying for this tournament for the last five or six editions."
"(For India) This is the time to build the new football. This generation of India is very strong. But if you see the European, African and South African teams, there is a big gap. We can reduce the gap through correct development.
Matos also had a message to Indian fans. "We are going to fight as lions to be heroes for all the people. The big thing I would like to have after the games that Indian people are proud of these boys. That's what I want."
Munjal, meanwhile, met with entire Indian squad and Matos and extended his best wishes.
Hero MotoCorp is the ‘National Supporter' of the marquee event.
Munjal said: "Hero is now the biggest supporter of football in the country -- being the main sponsor of both the men's and women's national teams across age-groups, and also through the title sponsorship of Hero ISL, Hero i-League and the Hero Super Cup.
"It is indeed heartening to see the Indian U-17 football team completely geared up to take on the world in the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup. On behalf of everyone at Hero MotoCorp, I wish the team best of luck."
"It is confirmed Vinicius Junior will not travel to India for the U-17 World Cup," the Gregório Fernandes told IANS when contacted over phone.
The 17-year-old Brazil football club Flamengo forward was earlier slated to land here on Saturday.
The Brazilian who has already signed a contract with Champions League holders Real Madrid helped his side win the Under-17 South American Championship scoring seven goals and was also named as the tournament's best player.
India U-17 head coach Luis Norton de Matos said: "We believe that we are prepared for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. We have worked hard and made progress, but at the same time we go directly to a high level competition against some of the best teams in the world.
"We will fight to win each match even if there is only five percent chance of winning. We will not give up and nothing is impossible in football. We plan to show the world that we are on the same page as them."
India have been drawn in Group A along side US, Colombia and Ghana.
The hosts will face US on October 6, followed by Colombia and Ghana on October 9 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JLN) here.
India U-17 squad:
Goalkeepers: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill, Sunny Dhaliwal
Defenders: Boris Singh, Jitendra Singh, Anwar Ali, Sanjeev Stalin, Hendry Antonay, Namit Deshpande
Midfielders: Suresh Singh, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Abhijit Sarkar, Komal Thatal, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Nongdamba Naorem, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Md. Shahjahan
Forwards: Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav
"The anthem will be on air from September 6th and you will be able to hear it on radio and television." Bhattacharjya told reporters on the sidelines of the unveiling of the Winner's Trophy here at the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra here.
The anthem is written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and composed by Pritam.
The World Cup final will take place at the Salt Lake Stadium on October 28.
The first phase of online ticket sale will start at exactly 19:11 hours on Tuesday, the time signifying the year 1911 when city football giants Mohun Bagan became the first club from the country to beat English side East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 to win the IFA Shield.
The Salt Lake Stadium will host ten matches -- the most number among all the venues -- which includes the final.
New Delhi, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and Guwahati are the other venues for the World Cup starting October 6.
"We are starting our online ticket sale on Tuesday. As you all know it will start at 19:11 hours as we wanted to honour Indian footall. It was the first time an Indian football team beat an English team on a final of an important tournament. It's important for Indian football. It's important for history and for Kolkata," Ceppi said.
"Per match it will come to around less than Rs 50. We are selling for all ten matches. The complete package (of 10 matches) will be Rs 480."
"So, you can actually watch a World Cup final for Rs 48, if you buy the complete package. This kind of package is unheard of. This kind of discount will be only be given in the first phase," Ceppi said.
Tickets for the first phase will be available for booking with the physical imprint arriving later after the draw is made on July 7.
"During tournament time you will get tickets for full price. It will also be economical but Rs 48 is for first phase. Tickets will be sold online. They will book for their tickets now. They will get it physically later."
Ceppi said, "So this phase there will be limited amount. It depends on response If we sellout, we will put more on that limited amount."
Rs 48 tickets will be of category three, Ceppi said, adding these will be the most available ones.
"Rs 48 is category three which is biggest category. There is category four (at the Salt Lake Stadium) also in this stadium, which we are not opening now."
Ceppi said all six venues will have tickets available for Rs 48 with the total package differing as Kolkata has the highest number of games.
"Other venues will be Rs 48 per match. So venues having less matches will be Rs 48 into number of matches," Ceppi said.
"There will be three categories in which tickets for each venue will be opened up. It is limited category that will be opened up now."
"It is 60 percent discount of what originally the tickets will be when the tournament comes. It is for rewarding the people who are buying first. This is for the true football fan. Not only that, the sense of tickets sales, we will also give out the name of which is th city that likes football the most of the country," he added.
Besides category three tickets, there will be category one and two for which prices will be approximately Rs 800-1,600.
"Other prices besides Rs 480 are Rs 800 and Rs 1600 approximately. These are all complete packages. This will be available on FIFA.com. The area and block will be mentioned while booking," Ceppi said.
"The city that buys more tickets, it's easy for us to understand that city likes football the most."
"Why it is particularly for football lovers? Because you don't know the teams. There is going to be high quality football matches. This will give us an impression of which venue has real football fans in the country," Ceppi added.
Matos, who met the AIFF advisory committee including representatives from Sports Authority of India (SAI), flew to Mumbai on Tuesday to meet AIFF President Praful Patel.
"It's nice to have Mr. Matos on board. His experience of handling youth Teams will come in handy for the U-17 boys as we wish to leave no stone unturned to field a competitive team in the U-17 World Cup," AIFF President Patel said in a statement.
"I expect him to guide our boys to put up a strong performance in the World Cup."
De Matos has worked as a manager with several clubs in his native Portugal and was also the head coach of the Guinea-Bissau national team from 2010 to 2012.
"My role will be to orchestrate everything wherein the players will be playing their part. I admire the AIFF's vision and the U-17 World Cup will act as a base for development of Football in India. The players need to believe in themselves to do something special for the country," the 63-year old said.
"I do have an Indian connection as my great grandfather was born in Goa. I will retain the positives of the last two years as we move forward."
The LOC said in a statement said that it had not held back any ticket from its side.
"All the tickets that have been put up for sale are the maximum number of tickets that can be sold at each venue discounting below mentioned commitments. When a venue appears sold out, it reflects the position of tickets that have been put out for sale," the LoC said.
"Discounting the contractual obligations with the host association, all participating teams, all the 13 commercial partners of the tournament, host broadcaster, the signatories of host city, stadium and training site agreements and other stakeholders with which there are contracts with regards to the tournament to provide tickets," it added.
Prior to India's opening match against the United States of America on October 6, the LoC and the government have claimed that all the tickets have been sold and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium would be full.
But the stadium was not full during the match and there were many vacant areas. Reports have said that the government had blocked the sale of tickets early and reserved more than 25,000 seats for the children of selected schools of the National Capital Region.
Those school children who turned up were not provided adequate water and food, after braving the heat for hours.
The LoC had blamed the Sports Authority of India for the water crisis, saying that the provision of drinking water was the responsibility of the facility owner (SAI).