India’s women’s football team meets Sweden’s Hammarby IF in Friendly-Sports News, Firstpost
This is the first of the two friendly matches that the Indian team will play in the Scandinavian country.
India’s women’s soccer team in training. Image: AIFF
Stockholm: With three recent international wins under their belt, a confident Indian women’s football team will face the Swedish top league team Hammarby IF in a friendly match on Wednesday.
This is the first of the two friendly matches that the Indian team will play in the Scandinavian country.
The team played four matches against the UAE (4-1), Tunisia (0-1), Bahrain (5-0) and Chinese Taipei (1-0) as part of the preparations for next year’s AFC Asian Cup for women.
“It is a big challenge for us in Sweden, but the girls are motivated to give their best in every match,” said goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan before the match.
“It’s often about who wants more on the pitch, and our girls are really pumped after the results we’ve had recently,” she added.
The Indian team under Swedish coach Thomas Dennerby scored 10 goals in the four international friendly matches at the same time as they only conceded three to win three wins and one loss.
“These games have been a great help to the team. They helped us reflect on the team and individual achievements. These matches helped us look at our strengths and weaknesses,” said another player Dalima Chhibber.
“As a team, we are focused on building for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup next year, and competitive matches like these will help us plan for the areas where we need to improve.”
Chhibber said the team is working hard to adapt to the philosophy that coach Dennerby is trying to introduce into the team.
“We are working on a new coaching philosophy both on and off the field. Preparations for the flagship tournament are in full swing,” she said.
“We all want to prepare the best we can for the AFC Asian Women’s Cup.”