Indian women's football team ready for Tunisia challenge in friendly

MUMBAI: An upbeat Indian womens team faces a big challenge when it takes on higher-ranked Tunisia in a friendly match in Dubai on Monday. The Indian team is bullish after defeating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on their home ground, a few days back. The Indian wom'n's team had earlier defeated UAE by a 4-1 margin in Dubai, with Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa, Sweety Devi, and Anju Tamang netting the goals. This victory came after the team played its first overseas friendly with Thomas Dennerby as the Head Coach, under whom the squad had trained in Jamshedpur for a month with the help of the Jharkhand government, before travelling to the UAE, the AIFF said in a report on its website.

"It was definitely a good start for the girls. That kind of a win helps to get some useful self-confidence into the players," said Head coach Dennerby after his first international game with the India senior women's team.

In their next match, India are set to face Tunisia, who are ranked 77th in the FIFA'Women's World Rankings. Looking ahead to the game, Dennerby feels that though it will be a tougher challenge for the girls, the aim remains to earn a victory.

"I guess it is going to be a bit tougher against Tunisia, but we always try to win, and that is just what we will try to do," said Dennerby. "It is good that we will be playing a relatively tougher team like Tunisia. We need to get used to playing at a higher pace." IANS

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