Kochi set to host biggest match on Indian soil ever: Javier Ceppi

Kochi (Kerala) [India], July 31 (ANI): The official draw ceremony of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 in Mumbai bought some cheers to the fans across the world, but one city located in the southern part of India was surely the happiest.

The city with some crazy football fans is not only getting an opportunity to witness a FIFA tournament live for the first time in their city but also getting a chance to probably host three of the biggest title contenders of the tournament with Brazil, Spain and Germany all set to play their group stage games in Kochi between October 7 - 13.

Tournament director of the Local Organising Committee for FIFA U-17 World Cup Javier Ceppi expected the fans in Kochi to show more love to the teams drawn to play here, especially for what will be the venue opener between Spain and Brazil.

Talking about the ticket sales here, Ceppi said, "We want Kochi to support all the teams, we haven't seen it yet, we thought we are going to see a sell out for all Brazil matches. Brazil, Spain as well as Germany are playing in Kochi and we were expecting a sell out in 2 hours like we saw in Kolkata. To be honest, a Brazil versus Spain game in a World Cup is as big as it gets and fans in Kochi need to step up and show the true spirit that we know it for."

Besides the group stage matches featuring Spain, Brazil, Germany amongst others, the venue will host a Round of 16 and a quarter final game as well. A tremendous response from the fans saw 100 percent ticket sales in the first two phases and Ceppi is confident that the ticket sales will rise again with a little more than two months for the tournament to kick off.

"The sales in Kochi have not been bad. Looking at phase 1 and 2, we are not sure why the trend has not continued. We are not getting into a situation where fans' interest is a problem. We are confident fans will buy. Brazil vs Spain in a World Cup game is by far the biggest international game to be played in India and we are confident fans will come in huge numbers to witness this historic game," Ceppi added.

The tournament is scheduled to be held between October 6th and 28th. (ANI)