Thomas Dennerby sported a wry smile when he came for the post-match press conference after the Indian team lost 8-0 to the United States at the Kalinga Stadium in their first ever match at the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup.
It’s not that Dennerby or anyone who follows the women’s game in India realistically thought that a team brought together less than a year ago, could surprise a team which boasts of players who play for the youth teams of some of the best American women’s clubs.
The smile also represented a weight being lifted off Dennerby’s shoulders. After weeks of positive messaging and building up his side, the Swede had to oversee what was perhaps the biggest defeat of his coaching career as a tactically and physically superior US side established their title credentials in some style.
But one cannot really blame Dennerby or his side for the magnitude of the loss. In a match against one of the powerhouses of women’s football, his inexperienced team were thoroughly outclassed. It also showcased the gulf in class between the two teams, and highlighted the work officials need to do to grow the game in the country.
“I should blame myself a lot if I know that we haven’t been fighting every day at camp,” Dennerby said at the press conference. “We have been working 14-17 hours every day for six months. We have to remember that we picked these girls from different try-outs. If you see the level today and the level when they arrived half a year back, you can see the difference. And as long as I can look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Yeah, you have done whatever you can’. I can’t blame myself for that.”
“Yeah I haven’t lost a championship match 8-0 before but I didn’t expect us to let so many goals in because defending has been quite good. When we played Sweden, we defended very well. We have two shots and we were creating chances. But honestly, USA was one level up even if you compare with Sweden,” he added.
Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup, India vs USA as it happened: Bhuta, Rebimbas star in USA’s 8-0 win
USA come out all guns blazing
In front of a good crowd at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, the USA, who haven’t progressed to the knockout stages of the tournament since reaching the final in 2008, came out all guns blazing.
USA coach Natalia Astrain set up her team in a 4-3-3 formation aiming to stretch the Indian defence with overlapping runs from the full-backs. They duly took the lead in the ninth minute from a short corner routine through Melina Rebimbas before doubling their advantage from another corner six minutes later.
The two goals knocked the wind out of India’s sails and the match soon turned into a procession of goals. India were pegged back in their own half as the US dominated proceedings. They were quicker to pounce on loose balls and pressed ferociously after losing possession. Like Dennerby would note later on, the Indian players would often choose to kick the ball long instead of playing out from the back.
But it was while trying to play out from the back that the next goal would come. A defensive mix up gifted the US a third goal in the 23rd minute before Rebimbas and full back Giselle Thompson’s goals gave the North American’s a 5-0 lead at halftime.
“My feeling from the side was that the girls were a little bit too nervous; they couldn’t handle the situation of playing their first World Cup. As you saw in the beginning, we didn’t even try to pass the ball to each. We were just defending and sending it away. Not comfortable enough to start playing.
“I was trying to scream ‘Start playing, start playing! We need to start playing girls.’ And the first time we tried to build up, they scored and it was 3-0. And of course after that US just played the game,” Dennerby said.
Set piece woes
Both sides rang in the changes at halftime but that scarcely changed how the match went on. The US scored from another corner in the 50th minute. In total, the US had 11 corners from which they scored thrice and threatened to score a couple more. Dennerby highlighted the physicality of the Americans while also bemoaning his side’s poor defending.
“The funny thing is that for a very, very long time, we didn’t let any goals leak from a set piece. We have been defending very well. But of course, on the other hand, we have not played against any team with this top-quality corner thing and players who are like six feet high and were also jumping very high. Honestly, I was a little bit surprised because we used to be very sharp on the defending on the set pieces but, obviously, that was not the case today,” he said.
The US clearly came into the match looking to physically dominate their relatively diminutive opponents from set-pieces. For the corners, the US attackers started from the edge of the box looking to use their momentum to get to the ball ahead of the Indians. Forced to defend zonally, the Indian defence rarely looked to win headers from set pieces.
Astrain credited her team’s win to the work they did in scouting and preparing for the match.
“We expected the game to be played this way because we scouted India through video. They were improving during the last months their organisation. The way India stuck to their organisation and formation was impressive,” she would say later in consolation.
India were indeed better defensively in the second half. Though the US still created chances, India made sure not to give away too many set pieces. They allowed the US only two more corners in the second half compared to nine in the first, thereby negating some of the US’ attacking threat.
The US still created chances and won a penalty in the 59th minute when Kajal Dsouza brought down Charlotte Kohler in the box with Taylor Suarez scoring from the spot. The cherry on the cake was provided by Mia Bhuta, the first player of Indian descent to represent the USA at the World Cup, who made it 8-0 with a postage stamp goal in the 62nd minute.
Though the many saw the result coming, the magnitude of their loss will sting Dennerby and his young wards. The real test of their mettle will be on how they bounce back from the humbling defeat and fight back. Morocco, fellow debutants, up next.
As Dennerby said about his message to the team, “the sun will come out tomorrow in India anyway, and if we have a sleepless night, we will not perform better in the next match. We lost 8-0, we can perform better. The face of the coach is also the face of the player. I will be there in the morning with a smile and try to encourage the girls the best way I can.”
