Dubai, Oct 5: Indian senior women’s squad went down to Tunisia by a solitary goal in a friendly at the UAE FA Stadium in Dubai.
India had their first chance as early as the second minute but even as Manisha tried to flick in Dalima Chibber’s cross, rival goalkeeper Mariem managed to keep it at bay.
Six minutes later Tunisia surged into the lead as Heuij scored from a free-kick. Stung, India launched a barrage of attacks in their effort to restore parity.
In the 11th minute Manisha ran down the left flank and sent in a cross but the rival defence managed to clear it. Soon after, another cross from Sanju was collected by Mariem.
Some ten minutes later, Indumathi tried to place it in from outside the penalty box, but it missed the target, played on Monday evenng.
In the 42nd minute, Indumathi, one of the leaders in the midfield found quite a bit of open space in front of her, and she did take a crack at goal. But it couldn’t find the target, as Tunisia managed to hold on to their early lead till the half-time.
Tunisia then launched a counter attack in the 63rd minute and it could have helped them double the lead had Shreya not managed to pull off a reflex save.
The contingent will now travel to Bahrain where they will be playing against Bahrain and Chinese Taipei. The matches are part of India’s preparation for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022, and the first exposure tour under head coach Thomas Dennerby. (UNI)
