The Indian Women’s team began their campaign with a frustrating draw against Iran at the AFC Women’s Asia Cup. The Blue Tigresses were better for large portions of the game but they were not clinical enough to put away the chances.
Therefore it was a disappointing result for the Indian Eves and head coach Thomas Dennerby especially when they had 24 shots with 5 shots on target and yet they could not break past the Iranian goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei.
Dennerby admitted his disappointment immediately at the post-match press conference. The Swedish tactician pointed out how India created so many chances but could not even convert a single chance into goal.
“Yes, I’m disappointed because we had many chances to score goals. But, it is what it is,” Dennerby began.
“You’re not given goals, you have to score them. Lastly, we have a point from the first round. And whenever you get a point in the first round, you always rely on the rest of the group. But, I think we should’ve won the game.”
India have a bright set of young forwards who did not step up against Iran but Dennerby explained the importance of scoring goals to get the desired results.
“We need to be more sharp in terms of goalscoring chances,” the Indian tactician added.
“I think we defended well for majority of the game. We looked stressed sometimes, maybe because it was the first game and hopefully will feel more comfortable in the next game,” he explained.
When asked about his and India’s aim of reaching the quarterfinals and how this result will mean to those aspirations, Dennerby explained how they need to get points against Chinese Taipei in their next game and are only thinking about the next match at hand. “When you come off the first round with a point, you always have a chance to come through to the next round,” Dennerby replied.
“Now, it’s up to us to try and get points against Chinese Taipei. The only thing you can do is focus on the next game and give your best.”
Last the Indian women’s team head coach pointed out how he wants her players to take shots quickly. It was an area where he thought his players were slow to react and hence they could not find the opening against Iran.
“If you have a chance, take it quickly and not take too long. We were little bit slow and gave the defenders a chance to come back. It’s small things and we need to improve upon it,” Dennerby concluded.
