‘Need to convert chances’

India head coach Thomas Dennerby says team should aim to be quick against Chinese Taipei if hosts want to win women’s Asian Cup match today

India football team coach Thomas Dennerby on Saturday acknowledged that his side will need to be more clinical with its finishing if it is to make the quarter-finals of the women’s Asian Cup. 

India were held to a goalless draw by lower-ranked Iran in their tournament opener, while Chinese Taipei, the home team’s opponents on Sunday, were blanked 4-0 by eight-time champions China. Despite all the domination against Iran, the Blue Tigresses were unable to find the net, and it cost them three points. “These things come from everyday training, and we are working on it. If you have a chance, you need to take it quickly, maybe in the first touch itself, if possible,” Dennerby said. “We need to convert our chances. We were a little slow in the last match and that gave the rival defenders time to recover, and come at us. These are the little things we need to be better at.” He said the team is now solely focussed on the game against Chinese Taipei and is not thinking about the outing against Iran. 

Thomas Dennerby

Sole focus

“For us, the focus is solely on the game against Chinese Taipei. Even if they lost to China, they’re still a good team. We need to have a good performance to take points from that game,” the head coach said. 

As things stand, China are at the top of Group A with three points, while India and Iran are tied for the second spot with one point each. Chinese Taipei are yet to open their account.

Dennerby refused to get into the permutations and combinations, and stressed a good performance will present a “decent chance” for the Blue Tigresses to make it to the quarters.

Quarter-final dream

“When you get decent points in the group stage you always have a chance to qualify. We need to have a good game against Chinese Taipei and get points,” Dennerby maintained.

“We are not at all concerned about the table at the moment. We need to get our job done in the next 90 minutes.” 

Besides the two top teams, two third-placed sides across the three groups will also qualify for quarter-finals. All the semi-finalists of the ongoing tournament will directly qualify for the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

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