Indian women play friendly matches against top clubs in Sweden | Football news
PANAJI: The Indian women’s soccer team has had it easy so far on their exposure tour.
India scored four against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and five against Bahrain. Although they lost between these two victories by a lone goal against Tunisia, Thomas Dennerby’s team was dominant all the time.
Now India is preparing for a tougher challenge when they play Chinese Taipei on Wednesday and then travel to Sweden for friendly matches against Hammarby IF and Djurgardens, both top classes previously trained by Dennerby.
“We will have two good matches next week,” the India coach told reporters during an online interaction on Monday.
“Some players will be missing because the matches are played under the FIFA window and there are (World Cup) qualifiers. They will still be good teams and challenging for us.”
First up for India will be Hammarby IF who attracted a record crowd of 18,537 for the team’s Stockholm derby with AIK on Sunday. Then there is Djurgardens, a team that Dennerby took to the UEFA Women’s Cup final during his time there in 2005.
“These teams will attack us. The pace will also be higher. Everything you do, the decision-making, your movement, everything must be faster”, says Dennerby, who guided Sweden to a third place in the FIFA World Cup 2011 India prepares for AFC Asian Cup 2022 which is played in Mumbai and Pune from January 20 to February 6.
The hosts may have to do without services from the injured striker Bala Devi, the country’s biggest name in women’s football.
Bala, 31, suffered an ACL injury (anterior cruciate ligament) during her time with Rangers FC and underwent surgery on 3 September.
“Good players are always part of your plan, but we also have to be very realistic,” said Dennerby. “I think her surgery was in early September. The fastest recovery I’ve ever heard of after an ACL injury is about four and a half, five months. Some players can take up to six to nine months.
“We really do not know. If she is 100 percent in shape, of course we want the best players, but we must also be realistic and plan without her. We will see in a couple of weeks how the rehabilitation is going.”
Bala is India’s first female footballer to sign a professional contract and score goals in Europe. She is the country’s best bet in front of the goal as well, having scored 52 goals in 58 matches between 2010 and 2019, when she last represented the country.
India scored four against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and five against Bahrain. Although they lost between these two victories by a lone goal against Tunisia, Thomas Dennerby’s team was dominant all the time.
Now India is preparing for a tougher challenge when they play Chinese Taipei on Wednesday and then travel to Sweden for friendly matches against Hammarby IF and Djurgardens, both top classes previously trained by Dennerby.
“We will have two good matches next week,” the India coach told reporters during an online interaction on Monday.
“Some players will be missing because the matches are played under the FIFA window and there are (World Cup) qualifiers. They will still be good teams and challenging for us.”
First up for India will be Hammarby IF who attracted a record crowd of 18,537 for the team’s Stockholm derby with AIK on Sunday. Then there is Djurgardens, a team that Dennerby took to the UEFA Women’s Cup final during his time there in 2005.
“These teams will attack us. The pace will also be higher. Everything you do, the decision-making, your movement, everything must be faster”, says Dennerby, who guided Sweden to a third place in the FIFA World Cup 2011 India prepares for AFC Asian Cup 2022 which is played in Mumbai and Pune from January 20 to February 6.
The hosts may have to do without services from the injured striker Bala Devi, the country’s biggest name in women’s football.
Bala, 31, suffered an ACL injury (anterior cruciate ligament) during her time with Rangers FC and underwent surgery on 3 September.
“Good players are always part of your plan, but we also have to be very realistic,” said Dennerby. “I think her surgery was in early September. The fastest recovery I’ve ever heard of after an ACL injury is about four and a half, five months. Some players can take up to six to nine months.
“We really do not know. If she is 100 percent in shape, of course we want the best players, but we must also be realistic and plan without her. We will see in a couple of weeks how the rehabilitation is going.”
Bala is India’s first female footballer to sign a professional contract and score goals in Europe. She is the country’s best bet in front of the goal as well, having scored 52 goals in 58 matches between 2010 and 2019, when she last represented the country.