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India U-19 Women’s team head coach Alex Ambrose expressed his happiness that his team showed the character to defeat Thailand in the final game of their AFC U-19 Women’s Championship qualifiers Round 1.
India produced a fine display on Sunday to earn a 1-0 win against hosts Thailand, who had majority of the possession on the night.
“It was a great victory for us. We all had to really fight for this win. Thailand are a very good team, arguably the best in our group,” Ambrose said.
“After the loss against Nepal the girls had to really pick themselves. They did it in style churning out this performance against a team of Thailand’s calibre,” he said. “I can say that I am proud of what we have achieved together.”
The star of the show for India on the night, was midfielder Grace Lalrampari, who regulated the midfield not allowing her Thai counterparts any space on the ball in the attacking third.
Finding it difficult to create chances from open play, Thailand were mostly restricted to set-pieces or long shots.
It was on the 36th minute that Grace Lalrampari put India in the lead, after Manisha powered her way down the left flank to send in a cross, which the former met perfectly with her right foot.
Ambrose had a word of praise for the hard-working midfielder, saying that she has improved by leaps and bounds over the last couple of months.
“She (Grace Lalrampari) has shown a lot of improvement. Not only Grace, but a number of girls in our team have improved,” Ambrose maintained. “With this performance they have shown that they can fight as a team and that is very important for the development of women’s football in the country.”
India missed out on qualification by virtue of the head-to-head system, despite the fact that they finished level on points (six) with Thailand and Nepal.
