The Indian ladies’s soccer crew could be on the lookout for its first victory this yr when it faces United Arab Emirates in a world pleasant match right here on Saturday.
The Blue Tigress have been winless within the 5 matches performed to this point this yr, although all of them have been in opposition to higher-ranked European sides.
The 57-ranked Indians could be on the lookout for their first win in 2021 in opposition to UAE, ranked a centesimal within the FIFA chart, within the pleasant match to be performed as part of preparations for the AFC Asian Cup, which can be hosted by the nation in January-February.
Thomas Dennerby’s facet then play in opposition to Tunisia, ranked 77th within the FIFA checklist, on Monday on the similar venue.
Having spent a month in Jamshedpur in a nationwide camp underneath Dennerby’s watch, the gamers are raring to go of their first worldwide match in six months. They final performed in a world match in April and suffered a 1-2 defeat in opposition to Belarus.
“We are placing plenty of effort into all of the classes. We do 5 technical and tactical classes, we do operating classes, we additionally play pleasant video games in opposition to native sides. We are coaching exhausting for the Asian Cup subsequent yr,” Dennerby mentioned.
The UEFA Pro License coach brings his personal philosophy in regards to the lovely recreation into the crew, and it’s one the place the entire squad strives to strike a stability in assault and protection.
“When it comes to defending, our team has to be organized. Every player has to know exactly what they need to do. We want the team to be compact and we are working on that,” mentioned the Swede who took cost of the crew earlier this yr.
“And then we also want to this compact team to win the ball back, and when we do that, of course, sometimes we want to counter attack quickly, and sometimes we want to slow it down and play around with the ball,” he defined.
Dennerby is hopeful {that a} good run for India within the Asian Cup will go a good distance in popularizing ladies’s soccer within the nation.
“The mission is to have a profitable Asian Cup subsequent yr. In Sweden, ladies’s soccer is big. In Nigeria, the place I’ve additionally coached, soccer is sort of a faith. In India, the recognition is probably not as a lot as that. But that can also be one of many thrilling elements in regards to the job for me,” he mentioned.
“If we have a successful tournament, it could be huge for India. And if you look at the game, in terms of the physical and tactical parts, I must say that we have a lot of players that can play at a very high level.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
