'Familiarity will give us an edge over Spain' - Mali coach

Head coach of Mali Under-17 team, Jonas Komla has said his side would have a slight advantage over Spain, when they play the three-time champions at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, October 25 in the ongoing Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) U-17 World Cup.

The African champions have played a couple of matches at the same venue and according to Komla, their knowledge of the pitch would serve as a slight advantage over Spain.

“We know the pitch very well. We have a little advantage of knowing and playing on this pitch.

"We hope to capitalized on that to secure victory in our next game." He stated.

Mali, played their first two games of the tournament on the pitch and lost their first game to Paraguay, but came back strongly to beat turkey by 3:0.

Mali looks stronger to win the day as they are used to playing in varied conditions in the tournament, with three of their five games to the semifinals played in rains.

Thus, in the case of a sudden downpour on Wednesday, the Malians would be able to adapt better, with Komla saying “in Mali, we are habituated to play in wet conditions, so nothing changes.

“We are prepared for anything that happens.. The players are feeling better, the Doctor and Physiotherapists are working on the players and we are all ready," he noted.

Mali beat Ghana 2:1 at the quarter final stage to advance to the semifinal, which kicks off at 14:00 hours local time.