"Really good to start the tournament with this win" - Thomas Dennerby after India's victory against Nepal in SAFF U-18 Women's Championship

India demolished Nepal in their first game in the SAFF U-18 Women's Championship and rallied to a 7-0 victory on Tuesday. After the game, head coach Thomas Dennerby lauded his players and said the win would be a great morale-booster for the matches ahead.

"We had a really good game, and a lot of good plays in the match. It was really good to start the tournament with this win, it does a lot to help the morale of the players for the upcoming matches."

Thomas Dennerby further added that he was impressed by the performance of some of the goalscorers on the night, especially the wingers who ran rings around Nepal's defence.

One of the scorers was Lynda Kom Serto, who scored a brace in the first half itself. However, the 17-year-old didn't want to get too carried away by her performance, but opined that "the job is not done yet."

"It was a great result but the job is not done yet. We want to have another good performance in our next match against Bangladesh and continue the same going ahead."

Next challenge for Thomas Dennerby's team

India, under Thomas Dennerby's leadership, will next play Bangladesh in the age-group SAFF competition on March 19 at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, Blue Tigresses skipper Shilky Devi lauded her team for their energy on the pitch and their hunger for more goals. India were 3-0 up by half-time but even after the break, they didn't let their foot off the gas.

"The energy in the team is brilliant. When you're 3-0 up at half time, it's very easy to ease up and just try to play out the match. But this group of girls have immense energy and we kept pushing throughout the 90 minutes. It's not always easy to score that many goals, it has a lot to do with the mental strength of the team."

Head coach Dennerby would be hoping that the momentum from this match is carried forward into the game vs Bangladesh. With the U-17 World Cup coming up later this year, it would be important for the youngsters in the team to continue improving.