The Indian Women’s Team will be playing two friendlies against the UAE National Team, and the Tunisian National Team. The team spent a month in Jamshedpur where they trained with infrastructural and logistical help from the Government of Jharkhand, going through 12 rigorous sessions a week.

Dennerby, who took over the reins of the Senior Women’s National Team earlier this year, comes with a vast experience of having coached the Swedish Women’s Team to the Olympic Final and the Nigerian Women’s Team to the African Women’s Cup of Nations title in the past. Having taken charge of the Indian Women’s Team, Dennerby is hopeful that a good run for India in the Women’s Asian Cup will go a long way in popularising women’s football in the country.

“The mission is to have a successful tournament when we go into the AFC Women’s Asian Cup next year. So we are putting a lot of effort into all the sessions we are doing now. We do five technical and tactical sessions, we do running sessions, we also play friendly games against local sides. We are training hard for the Asian Cup next year,” Dennerby said in a candid chat with www.the-aiff.com on the eve of his side’s first friendly against UAE.

“Back in my home in Sweden, women’s football is huge. In Nigeria, where I’ve also coached, football is like a religion. But here in India, the popularity is perhaps not as much as that. But that is also one of the exciting parts about the job for me,” he beamed. “If we have a successful tournament, it could be huge for India. And if you look at the game, in terms of the physical and tactical parts, I must say that we have a lot of players that can play at a very high level.”

The UEFA Pro License coach brings his own philosophy about the beautiful game into the team, and it is one where the whole squad strives to strike the perfect balance in their harmony on the pitch.

“My philosophy is simple. When it comes to defending, our team has to be organised. Every player has to know exactly what they need to do. We want the team to be compact and we are working on that. And then we also want to this compact team to win the ball back, and when we do that, of course, sometimes we want to counter attack quickly, and sometimes we want to slow it down and play around with the ball,” he explained.

CREDITS- AIFF MEDIA

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Dennerby, who was earlier in charge of the Indian U-17 Women’s World Cup squad, has an experience of over 30 years in coaching several National squads with much success. The UEFA Pro Diploma Holder had guided Sweden’s Women’s National team to a 3rd-place finish in the FIFA World Cup in 2011, and a quarter-final spot in the 2012 London Olympics.

He also served as the Head Coach of the Nigerian Women’s National team wherein he coached the Super Falcons to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. He also helped the Nigerian women to win the AWCON Award 2018, and was awarded the 2018 Coach of the Year in Nigeria.

“I am grateful to the All India Football Federation for finding me suitable for the job. It’s an honour to be taking over as the Head Coach of the Indian Senior Women’s National team,” Dennerby stated. “I have been in India and am aware of the huge potential. It is a big challenge to get the girls ready for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Life is all about challenges, and I relish it,” he added.

AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das averred: “With his vast experience, Thomas will bring in immense value addition to the women’s team. He is acquainted with India and we look forward together for him to improve our team technically, and competitively.”

Dennerby will move to take charge of the Indian U-17 World Cup squad once the AFC Asian Cup ends in February 2022. Till then, the U-17 girls will be training under the watchful eyes of Assistant Coach Alex Ambrose, who will be working in close coordination with Dennerby.

The AIFF in consultation with Thomas Dennerby and relevant stakeholders has also laid down a composite calendar for the development of women’s football, which also targets a number of International exposure tours for the Women’s Team leading to the AFC Asian Cup India 2022 which kicks off on January 20, 2022 — all of which are subject to materialisation in view of the current pandemic situation which prevails all over the world, restricting travel worldwide.

AIFF expects covid restrictions and quarantine rules to get flexible in different countries soon, and with requisite permissions landing from the Governments of the respective countries, the Women’s team will be travelling abroad for International Friendlies.

In addition, subject to the pandemic situation improving in India and with consent coming in from the Government of India, there are plans to host an International tournament for Women’s in India soon.

At the domestic level, the Senior National Championships are planned to be held in November; while a probable window for the Hero IWL is March/April 2022 in Bhubaneswar. The Head Coach was very clear that it would not be prudent to allow National Team players to participate in Hero IWL before the Asian Cup in 2022, and accordingly it will be held after the Asian Cup.

Participation in both the competitions will be granted solely to players/staff who have got themselves fully vaccinated.

CREDITS- AIFF MEDIA

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