The Indian women’s football team go down to Tunisia by a goal in a friendly match played at the UAE FA stadium in Dubai.
Manisha tried to flick in Dalima Chibber’s cross but rival goalkeeper Mariem managed to defend.
Tunisia surged into the lead six minutes later as Heuji scored from a free-kick.
Manisha ran down the left flank in the 11th minute and sent a cross but the rival defence managed to clear it. After this, another cross from Sanju was collected from Mariem.
Indumathi tried to place it in from outside the penalty box ten minutes later but it missed the target.
Manisha’s free-kick missed the target in the 3rd minute. Dalima gave another free kick in the 40th minute. Indumathi, one of the leaders in the midfield found quite a bit of open space in front of her in the 42nd minute and she did take a crack at the goal. But Tunisia managed to hold on to their early lead till half-time.
Thomas Dennerby, the Head Coach brought in goalkeeper Shreya Hooda to replace Aditi Chauhan. Dalima’s effort sailed over Soumya even as India earned a corner.
In the 53rd minute, Dennerby went for a double substituition. Ritu Rani and Pyari Xaxa came in for Ashalata Devi and Renu respectively. Indumathi took over as the captain.
In the 61st minute Dennerby went for another double substitution with Martina and Sumita replacing Sanju and Manisha.
Tunisia launched a counterattack in the 63rd minute but Shreya managed to pull off a reflex save.
In the 68th minute, Dennerby brought in another substitution in midfield with Indumathi making way for Sandhiya. Sandhiya managed to take a snapshot but Mariem saw it off. In the 75th minute, Mariem also denied Pyari after she managed to sneak in between the rival defence.
The team will now be playing against Bahrain and Chinese Taipei. The matches are played as preparation for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022. It is also the first exposure tour under Head Coach Thomas Dennerby.
