Hero U-17 Women's C'ship helped gauge vast pool of players: Thomas Dennerby

NEW DELHI: Newly appointed India U-17 Women's Team head coach Thomas Dennerby hailed the Hero U-17 Women's Championship, stating that watching the four scouted teams in action helped him gauge the talent pool from which he is to chisel the squad for next year's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

The Swede was announced as the head coach of the India U-17 women's team earlier this month, and comes in with a vast amount of experience, having previously taken the reins of the Sweden ladies' team and most recently the Nigeria ladies' team at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.

Lauding the four-team tournament, Dennerby said it aided him to see a number of players from all around the country in action.

"It has been of immense help. It has provided me with an opportunity to see four already-scouted teams in action. In a vast country like India, that makes the job much easier," said Dennerby.

He further went on to state that watching the players in match situations further helped in getting a reading of them.

"The great thing is that all the players have got a chance to play against each other. That is much more game time than in a camp. Also, a competition is always a competition -- the pressure, those 90 minutes. It enables a coach to gauge much more -- attitude, work rate, off the ball play, temperament," he quipped.

The 60-year-old also went on to congratulate the scouts on finding the number of quality players in the tournament.

"The scouts have done a wonderful job, finding all the players, it's really commendable. There will be quite a few players in the upcoming camp in Goa for sure," he said.

Furthermore, Dennerby went on to state that the live broadcasts of the match also aided in propagating the cause of women's football across the nation.

"The pitch was really good. Also, the fact that the matches were broadcast live enabled the girls to reach many households and thereby develop interest in women's football in India," said the new coach.

Overall, the new India U-17 women's team head coach seemed confident after the completion of the four-team tournament.

"I have a coaching philosophy that we can find talented players anywhere in the world and I am pretty confident that we will be able to do the same for India’s U-17 Women’s World Cup team," Dennerby rounded off.