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Modi on pitch for FIFA U-17 match

PM Narendra Modi handed out mementos to a number of footballers, who have led Indian national football teams in the past, as part of the pre-match ceremony

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PM Narendra Modi leaves after the opening ceremony of FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday
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As former champions Ghana finished their celebrations after beating Colombia in the FIFA?U-17 World Cup match here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived amidst the biggest cheers of the evening.

Modi, escorted by the sports minister and Olympic silver-medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore and All India Football Federation president Praful Patel, walked on to the pitch and shook hands with the both Indian and US U-17 players before the kick-off.

However, there was a goof up on part of the organisers when former India captain in the 1974 Asian Games, Magan Singh, was felicitated by PM instead of 1982 Asian Games skipper Bhaskar Ganguly.

For some reasons, Ganguly's name was not called out by the organisers and he kept waiting for his turn in the gallery.

Modi handed out mementos to a number of footballers, who have led Indian national football teams in the past, as part of the pre-match ceremony. The former players who were felicitated included names like PK Banerjee, Saeed Nyeemuddin, Bembem Devi, Bhaskar Ganguly, Chuni Goswami, IM Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia, Joaquim Abranches, Samar Banerjee and current skipper Sunil Chhetri.

This is the first time that India have been part of any FIFA WC tournament. They are placed in Group A alongside US, Ghana and Colombia.

Indian boys showed some spirited performance against US, considered to be strongest in the 24-team field. The home team went down 3-0, however, they won the hearts with their determined performance.

Known for their man-to-man marking, most of the US players are part of Major League Soccer (MLS) youth teams and a couple of them are set to play in top European clubs as well.

Indian team has as many as eight footballers from the north-east state of Manipur. The stories of how sons of rickshaw drivers and a player who grew up in 'extreme poverty' have made the Indian squad has already making headlines.

This historic day was made special by the enthusiastic 27,000 school kids, who were specially ferried in from four Haryana districts of Faridabad, Gurugram, Jhajhar and Sonipat.

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