"If we get a chance, we will take it" - Thomas Dennerby remains positive ahead of India's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup campaign

Host nation India are days away from starting their FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup campaign. The Young Tigresses have been clubbed in Group A alongside the United States of America, Brazil, and Morocco.

Although India will start as underdogs, head coach Thomas Dennerby stressed during a press conference on Friday, October 7, that in football, there's always a chance, even against the toughest opponents.

He said:

"We know we are playing against some of the top teams. But if we really have a good day, and the top teams have some weaknesses, then there is always a chance for the underdogs to make it a match for themselves.

“If we can score an early goal against one of these teams, then they may get a little nervous or start thinking a little bit too much and get stressed. So, there is always a chance, and if we get a chance, we will take it.”

The tournament will be hosted at three venues across the country - the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The hosts will be playing all their group-stage games in Odisha, starting with a clash against the USA on Tuesday, October 11.

Dennerby talks on how India plan to tackle their FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup group-stage opponents

Dennerby underlined that while the USA are a "strong, powerful team and play quick football", the Young Tigresses have chalked down some ways to tackle their opening day opponents.

India's head coach quipped in response to a Sportskeeda query:

“The USA have a strong powerful team and play quick football. They play a very high press game, putting opponents under pressure and utilizing a lot of mistakes that the rivals commit because of the constant pressure. We need to handle this. How? Well, that we will not tell you just yet.

“Hopefully, we have found a way to handle Brazil. We saw them during our tour of Spain because they were training beside us. We saw them coming out as a very physical team - some huge girls. Morocco are also a good technical team. They try to build up from behind with patience but we have an idea how we should handle that.”

When questioned about the host nation's expectations from the tournament, Dennerby stated that the team wants to be in the quarter-finals and will be fighting for it together.