Indian women’s football team head coach Thomas Dennerby on Tuesday said that his players need to be more confident with the ball while building attacks in their next match against Venezuela in the four-nation tournament on Thursday.
India suffered defeats to Brazil (1-6) and Chile (0-3) in their earlier two matches and they take on Venezuela in their last match on Thursday at the Arena da Amazonia.
Both Brazil and Chile are much higher than India in FIFA rankings at seventh and 37th respectively. But, Venezuela is ranked just one place above India at 56th.
“Venezuela have a very similar playing style to Chile. They (Chile) are very comfortable on the ball and have a good passing game. They take their time and build up from behind, so we need to be more confident as a unit,” Dennerby said.
The good thing is that we played as a solid and composed defensive unit for majority of the game against Chile. Yes, we made small mistakes and that cost us in that match. But two of their goals were also of a very high quality with beautiful finishing."
Thomas Dennerby, India women's coach
“The good thing is that we played as a solid and composed defensive unit for majority of the game against Chile. Yes, we made small mistakes and that cost us in that match. But two of their goals were also of a very high quality with beautiful finishing,” said the head coach.
The Swede said his side would need to improve on the attacking front, as they prepare for the AFC Asian Cup, which takes place in India next year.
“We played a solid defensive game in most parts (against Chile) but small mistakes did hurt us. Our attack in the first half was also a bit weak, and our passing game was off. But the girls showed a lot of character to come back and play much better in the second half.
“We started to make a lot of offensive runs, and created three very good chances, before they scored.
“Football is a running sport, and you need to drive the ball with your off the ball runs, and the girls did that in the second half. We need to do more of that, play a few touches, and use the speed we have in the team," said Dennerby.
