CHIANG MAI (THAILAND),: India will have to play out of their skin when they take on higher-ranked Thailand for a place in next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia here on Saturday.
India have never defeated Thailand and have never reached the AFC Women’s Asian Cup through the qualifiers route. The Blue Tigresses last featured in the continent’s premier tournament in 2003 when there were no qualifiers. They did participate in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 as hosts but had to withdraw due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad.
After more than two months of continuous toil and three wins in the group so far, India will look to grab the opportunity to stay on course for the bigger dream of a first-ever qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027.
“Qualification right now would be a huge boost for Indian football overall,” said coach Crispin Chettri.
“We’re going through a challenging phase at the moment, and the women’s team qualifying would really provide a ray of hope. It would also help the women’s game grow in India. More young players would be inspired to take up football professionally.
“For those already in the national team, it would be an opportunity to face the best teams in Asia, and possibly the world. So in every way, I believe it would be a big step forward for football in India.”
Thailand are ranked 46th, 24 places above India, and both teams have won three matches each in the qualifiers so far.
The Blue Tigresses defeated Mongolia 13-0, Timor Leste 4-0 and Iraq 5-0, while the Chabakaew beat the same opponents 11-0, 4-0 and 7-0 respectively.
That leaves both sides with a goal difference of +22, setting up a knockout clash in every sense. Only a victory will do, and if there is no separating them after 90 minutes, the ticket to Australia will be decided via penalties.
“I think we need to maintain the same mindset we’ve had throughout the tournament, from the Mongolia game to now. We haven’t taken any team lightly, and we’ve worked hard in training for every match. The same applies to Thailand,” Chettri said.
“Yes, they are a stronger side than the others and deserve full respect, and for us, it’s about executing what we’ve been preparing for the last two months.
“For us, the mindset is clear. We want to finish the game in 90 minutes. We’re not approaching it thinking about penalties. We’re preparing to win in regulation time and will play with that intent from the start. Being overly defensive or waiting for penalties is not how we want to approach this match.
“Sometimes, to qualify or to become champions, keeping clean sheets is just as important as scoring goals. I know we have the ability to score, but if we maintain our defensive discipline against Thailand, I believe we can win the match within the 90 minutes.”
Coached by Japanese Futoshi Ikeda, Thailand are targeting their 10th successive qualification for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The Chabakaew have also played in two FIFA Women’s World Cups, in 2015 and 2019.
