Indian football: Important to play at least 10 games before AFC Asian Cup, says women’s team coach

Newly-appointed Indian women’s football coach Thomas Dennerby on Saturday said the team needs to play at least 10 international matches against opponents with diverse playing styles in the run-up to the AFC Asian Cup.

The 62-year-old Dennerby, who was earlier in charge of the Indian U-17 women’s World Cup squad, was last month roped in to help the senior team prepare for the AFC Asian Cup, which will be hosted in the country from January 20 to February 6 next year.

“It is very important for us to play 11-13 matches before the tournament (AFC Asian Cup) starts. The federation is working very hard trying to help us, we know about the situation with corona,” Dennerby said during a virtual media interaction.

“It is important to us to play not less than 10 games before the tournament starts and we need to play different opponents with different playing styles,” he added.

The All India Football Federation has struggled to find an opponent due to the Covid-19 quarantine restrictions in various countries. The team is currently gathered in Jamshedpur for the preparatory camp, leading to the continental event.

“It is tough for us to find opponents, countries which allow us to come. Still in some countries India is red marked. It’s…

Read more