Panaji: India U-17 coach Luis Norton de Matos has turned down the chance to play two friendlies against World Cup finalists Mali and instead settled for a clash against Mauritius later this week.

Mali, who made it to the final of the 2015 event in Chile, were keen on two friendlies against the hosts, but coach Matos believes it’s too much of a risk to play such strong opponents at this stage.

“I refused Mali. They wanted to play two friendlies, one on September 16 and the second one four days later. They are a physically strong and power team. Mali is too much of a risk because we don’t even have two players for each position. Closer to the World Cup, it’s a risk to play such matches,” said Matos.

The All India Football Federation ( AIFF ) wanted two international friendlies and knocked on the doors of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa. All three turned down the chance to travel to India, prompting the federation to then invite Mauritius instead.

“The AIFF looked hard in Asia but it’s not easy to get teams who are not participating in the World Cup, even if you pay them. Mauritius is fine with me. They are a good side and will provide us a real test,” said Matos.

India will play Mauritius in Goa on Wednesday. Mauritius suffered a 0-3 defeat against Zambia in the 2017 COSAFA Under-17 Championships.

The Mauritius friendly will be India’s last international before the all-important World Cup opener against the United States. The Portuguese coach is expected to field players who he is still unsure of and will look at their performances in the friendly before finalising the 21-member squad.

“We wanted to play more international friendlies but somehow it wasn’t possible. Australia, where we were expected to train, is a very good place to work but at this moment it’s quite cold with temperatures close to zero degrees. A friend of mine who works there said most academies prefer working on synthetic fields during such climate.

“As a human being, I would have loved to go to Australia. It’s a beautiful country but my interest is sporting and I must see what is best for the team. The doctor also felt a lot of players could fall ill,” said Matos, explaining the decision to cancel the tour to Australia.

India also cancelled a tour to the United States after realising they had little time to procure visas.