My focus is on final for now, says Ruiz

Team Udayavani, Oct 26, 2017, 12:52 PM IST

Navi Mumbai:  He might be one of the brightest youngsters in international football but Spanish striker and skipper Abel Ruiz is not thinking too far ahead and said now he just wants to focus on the finals against England in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“I am concentrating now only on the final game against England and not on anything else,” said the FC Barcelona junior player after scoring a brace in Spain’s dominant 3-1 semi final victory over African U-17 champions Mali in the FIFA U-17 World Cup here last night.

Ruiz was the fulcrum around which his team rotated as Euro U-17 champions Spain overwhelmed a fighting Mali to emerge a clear winner at the D Y Patil Stadium. He said his idol in the “Beautiful Game” is Uruguay and FC Barcelona senior team’s star striker, Luis Suarez.

Asked if there was any added pressure on him as his team’s spearhead, Ruiz said all he concentrated was on scoring goals to enable his team to win. “I am under no pressure. All I want to do is to score goals and make my team win,” said the player, who has become the second highest score in the competition.

Looking ahead to the final against England on October 28, Ruiz pointed out that the two teams had fought the Euro championship final too in Croatia and are aware of each other’s style of play. “We had played against them in the Euro final,” he said. England defeated Brazil by an identical margin in the first semi-final played in Kolkata yesterday.