MUMBAI: India tried hard, but were held to a frustrating goalless draw by a resolute Iran, who were playing in this tournament for the first time, in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday night.
The 'Blue Tigresses' were the dominant side for the majority of the Group A match, particularly in the second half where they created some golden opportunities, but just weren't clinical in front of the goal. With their players covering their heads neatly in hijab, Iran, who fought bravely, came through this match with their head held high.
The tale of missed chances by India meant that despite being ranked higher at 55th, the hosts couldn't beat a team which is ranked 70th. It must be said though that all the Indian players too were playing in this event for the first time - India last played in this tournament in 2003.
India were slow in the beginning, but picked up the pace later. Sadly for them, they just couldn't break through the strong Iranian defence, led by their goalkeeper Zohreh Koodaei, who had a brilliant match under the bar, fending off India's raids repeatedly. Before the match, India women's team head coach Thomas Dennerby had mentioned how India could find it tough to get past Iran's formidable defence. His observation was spot on.
"Yeah, in that way, I am disappointed with the result. We had enough chances to score, but it is what it is. It is all down to technical skills. You are not given goals, you have to score them, otherwise you are not good enough," Dennerby said later. "We defended well. (I was) little bit surprised in the beginning (with Iran being dominant). We will try to get points from the game against Chinese Taipei. This game is over, we can't change this (result)," the Indian coach said.
