India U-19 Women land in Thailand for AFC Qualifiers

India U-19 Women's team manager Alex Ambrose stressed on the importance of facing stronger teams like Thailand which will help the team to improve.

Chonburi, a town nearby Thailand's capital Bangkok, will host the AFC Women's U-19 Qualifiers.

The India U-19 Women’s team on Monday, reached the town of Chonburi, which is an hour's journey from Bangkok for the AFC U-19 Women's Championship Qualifiers where India will take on Nepal, Pakistan and host Thailand in Group B.

India Women's U-19 coach Alex Ambrose felt that a town like Chonburi is perfect to focus on the game.

“It’s definitely great to be in a town like Chonburi for the AFC qualifiers,” said head coach Alex Ambrose. “Away from the hustle and bustle of a big city like Bangkok, we can concentrate on our game and try to get the desired results.”

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Ambrose stressed the importance of playing against top quality teams like Thailand which will be a learning experience for his team.

“I’ve seen how the Thailand team plays. Very honestly I’ve been amazed by their style of play. They are so comfortable on the ball. It is clear that they have all been playing the game from a very young age,” said the Indian coach.

“It’s always an advantage for the coaches if your players are that comfortable on the ball. When that is the case, you can always try different tactics,” he said.

“It’s important for us to play teams like these. These are the matches where we can learn what are the things that we can improve on. Of course, results are important, but at the junior level, what the players learn is of paramount importance,” said Ambrose.

“Our girls really need to push themselves, when we play Thailand. That will probably be our toughest match in this outing.”

INDIA U-19’S MATCHES:

October 24:  India vs Pakistan

October 26:  India vs Nepal

October 28:  India vs Thailand