Indian women lose against Sweden’s Djurgarden IF in a friendly match
New Delhi, October 23 (IANS): The Indian women’s team ended their European tour when they went against Swedish Djurgarden IF with a lone goal in the second friendly match which was arranged in the Scandinavian country at Stockholm Stadium last Saturday.
Djurgarden’s striker Fanny’s goal (45 ‘) gave them a hard victory against the Indian eves.
India coach Thomas Dennerby handed over the gloves to Shreya for this match. He started off with a 4-3-3 lineup with Manisha and Dangmei Grace on the sidelines to support Pyari at the heart of the attack, according to a report on the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) official website.
The move yielded results when goalkeeper Shreya came with an early save to deny the Swedish outfit, which could have opened the scoring already in the third minute. Ten minutes later, Anju’s long curling corner was met by Ashalata at the far post but the opposing goalkeeper made a well-timed save.
Shreya was in the middle of the action once again before the half-hour mark when she denied Engolo from scoring the opening goal. Sanju rolled it in for Grace but her effort was anticipated by goalkeeper Kelsey well in advance.
At the end of the first half, Fanny scored the first goal, the final one, to give them a decisive lead.
Dennerby made three substitutions during the break and threw in Michel Castanha, Sumati Kumari and Ranjana Chanu instead of Dalima Chhibber, Grace and Astam Oraon respectively.
The changes could have paid off early on for India but Sumatis’ cross missed the target with a whisk in the 63rd minute. Ranjana made another crucial save 15 minutes from the end of regular time. Manisha made a bold effort during extra time only to see the shot fly over the crossbar. A minute later, Indumathi’s free kick could have been better but Ranjana’s effort missed the target.
The referee ended the match with Djurgarden taking the narrow win in India’s last match in Sweden. The squad will now return to India on October 25, before resuming training ahead of next year’s AFC Asian Cup at home.