SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship: India look to get campaign back on track against Bhutan

After a disappointing defeat against hosts Bangladesh, India hope to get their 2023 SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship campaign back on track when they take on Bhutan on Sunday at the BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium here.

The Young Tigresses began their campaign with a solid 4-1 victory over Nepal on Monday but struggled to find their shooting boots in the 0-1 defeat to Bangladesh on Friday.

After a rather drab opening half, India stepped up a gear but couldn’t find the net due to poor finishing and some heroics from the opposition goalkeeper. Ultimately, Akhila Rajan’s headed own goal 16 minutes from time gave Bangladesh a fortunate lead which they held onto until the final whistle.

“It was a hard result to take. The girls played well in the match, but because of a defensive mistake, we conceded the goal. We also couldn’t convert the chances we got,” said India head coach Priya PV.

Highlighting the refinements required ahead of the final two games, Priya said, “We need to improve on our attacking and passing. In the last match, we failed to create enough chances in the scoring third. We also need to do better in the build-up.”

India’s opponents Bhutan are bottom of the five-team standings with three losses so far (1-8 to Bangladesh, 0-5 to Nepal and 1-9 to Russia). As such, Priya’s side will hope to pile on the misery on the Bhutanese and head into the crunch last match against heavyweights Russia on the back of a good win.

“We will go all-out in the next two matches. We will try to improve on our last performances and score more goals,” she concluded.

-IANS

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