Mumbai, Jan 22: India and Chinese Taipei will be aiming to boost their AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 Group A campaigns when they clash at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on January 23.
Both teams will be searching for a victory, with India settling for a goalless draw against Iran, while Chinese Taipei succumbed to a 0-4 defeat against China in the opener.
India created plenty of chances against Iran but were denied by goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei and steely defending. On the other hand, Chinese Taipei had to concede to the superiority of China.
India head coach Thomas Dennerby believes his team only need some minor adjustments to hit top gear offensively.
“I think we have a solid defence. We defended well (against Iran) whenever they tried to counter-attack. A few tweaks to our attack, and we will be ready for our next opponents,” said Dennerby.
“My philosophy is to learn the lesson and look ahead. It’s always good to come up with points in your first game, you stand a better chance of moving to the next round. We need to follow our plan against Chinese Taipei.
“That game (Iran) is over. The result is what it is. We can never look back. Now we have to work on our finishing and go at it again in the second match and get the three points.
“The only thing we can do is focus on our opponents and not the table. Chinese Taipei lost to China PR but they are a good team and we must play well against them.”
Chinese Taipei have no choice but to bounce back from their defeat against the eight-time champions China.
Head coach Kazuo Echigo believes his players will be at their best, especially as they have a score to settle against India.
Chinese Taipei lost 1-0 against India last October and Echigo said the memory of that result will drive his players.
“This is a very tough competition. Everybody gave their best efforts throughout the game (against China),” said Echigo.
“The players need to recover after the tough game against China but they will be motivated for the India tie. We lost to them in October and the team want to avenge that defeat.”
With the top two teams to advance automatically to the quarterfinals, neither side can afford to drop points – setting the stage for a no-holds barred contest.
