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After a splendid display against Iran in the opening match of the Group D of the 2017 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship qualifiers which ended 1-1, India next face hosts Vietnam in their last Group League match on Friday, November 4. AIFF Media caught up with Head Coach Sajid Dar to get an insight into the scenario where he spoke at length about the positives from the match against Iran, the tough schedule, a ‘strong’ Vietnam, the mission and much more.
What did the Team take away from the match against Iran?
Lot many positives and a whole lot of confidence. The danger stays that the girls shouldn’t get carried away after such a performance.
Can you elaborate?
This is a U-19 AFC Championship but we had three girls who had represented India in AFC U-16 Championships in August in the Starting XI. As a Coach nothing can be more satisfying.
What was your message to the girls post match?
The match against Iran is history. If we sit back and try to bask in glory, we would suffer against Vietnam. We need to move ahead and are focusing on Vietnam at the moment. We are ready to give our best on the field.
How did the girls behave in the Dressing Room?
They need to learn from their mistakes. We conceded against Iran at a time when we had 9 on the field as two Players were being treated outside. They realise that they should have won against Iran.
As things stand right now we need to garner three points from our next encounter to keep alive our chances of qualifying to the final stage.
What do you expect from Vietnam?
They will be a super strong side. They have made massive strides in Women’s Football. They will be coming out against us blazing all guns.
Are they beatable?
As I said, we take a lot of confidence from the match against Iran into the next match. The girls displayed an excellent brand of Football against a much tougher opponent. It showed what we are capable of. It’s about having the self-belief. In Football no Team is unbeatable and anything can happen.
How much of an advantage will Vietnam have being the hosts?
That’s always an immense advantage. The atmosphere drives a home Team forward. In such a situation you need to stay focused for entire 90 minutes. The moment you take your foot off the pedal you will get punished. There is no room for errors.
How difficult is it to play back to back matches?
Extremely difficult! We just had one day of recovery and one training session before we headed into the first match. And now with just one day of rest, we are to play our most crucial match of the Championship. I envy Iran who have three days of rest before playing their next match.
But this is what International Football is all about. You need to be ready, and be on your toes all the time.
What is the recovery plan?
As we have less than 48 hours for our next match, we need to be very meticulous. It’s understandable that with the girls would be fatigued after running all over the field against Iran. We will be having our recovery session and our Meetings to help us prepare for the next match. We need to get ready, both mentally and physically.
by AIFF Media
