India U17 girls gear up for stringent Bangladesh test

India will look to book their place in the final with a game to spare when Pamela Contis Under-17 side take on a strong Bangladesh side in their second match of the SAFF U19 Womens Championship at the Pokhara Rangasala Stadium here on Monday.

India will look to book their place in the final with a game to spare when Pamela Conti's Under-17 side take on a strong Bangladesh side in their second match of the SAFF U19 Women's Championship at the Pokhara Rangasala Stadium here on Monday. Fielding their U-17 team as part of preparations for the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup in China later this year, India began their campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over hosts Nepal. Another victory against Bangladesh, coupled with Bhutan failing to beat Nepal in the later kick-off, will confirm India's spot in the title clash. The Young Tigresses were pushed hard by Nepal, with the decisive goal coming in the 49th minute through Pearl Fernandes, the 16-year-old striker's 10th goal for the U17 national side. Reflecting on her first match in charge, head coach Conti felt her players were eager but still adapting to her system. ''In my humble opinion, with me being a new coach, the players had a strong desire to do more, and to prove themselves. They are still not fully secure in their place in the team, and they want to show more, which led us to make more mistakes than usual. ''Overall, I am happy because I saw good things. But there were also things that were not so good, which we need to work on. And that is exactly why we are here,'' she said. Despite the picturesque backdrop of the Annapurna Himalayan range, the Pokhara pitch conditions posed challenges to India's possession-based style. ''The quality of the ground did affect us a lot. It makes playing with ball control and passing much more difficult. We have technically skilled players, and were superior to Nepal in that aspect, but the conditions definitely played their part,'' the Italian added. Attention now shifts to Bangladesh, who stormed into the tournament with a commanding 12-0 win over Bhutan and are expected to provide a sterner physical test. Conti and her staff even watched their rivals in action to assess their strengths. ''I think Bangladesh are a physically strong opponent. We need to take that into account. I believe that technically, we can hurt them a lot if we work better. ''But at the same time, I always think that there is much more to work on. Whether you win, lose, or draw, you have to come back and say: this is not enough, we cannot be satisfied with what we have. ''And for us, with very little time working together, the players have had to learn a new system of play that we have introduced. We have to improve a lot to achieve results. That means working, especially on the physical side,'' she added.

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