After a record-breaking win in the campaign opener, the Indian senior women’s team will look to continue the winning momentum in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers when it takes on Timor Leste on Sunday at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium.
The five-team Group B is currently led by Iraq, which is on four points after a 5-2 victory over Mongolia and a 0-0 draw with Timor Leste. India, which beat Mongolia 13-0, and Thailand, which beat Timor Leste 4-0, are on three points each.
Despite Timor Leste being ranked 158th, 32 places below Mongolia, Indian coach Crispin Chettri believed that the Southeast Asian side would pose a stronger challenge. Having watched all teams in action after the first two matchdays, there’s now a much clearer assessment of all the remaining three opponents.
“Timor Leste are a better-organized team than Mongolia, and I feel they are better organized defensively than Iraq as well. They prefer going for counter-attacks. They don’t mind keeping the ball either. So, in patches, they are good. But as Thailand dominated the match completely, we can’t say much about their attack. But they have got pace in their team as well,” said Chettri.
