"Football is a sport of skillfulness and we have a little bit more to do. That's the truth."
Moments after India exited the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with a 3-0 loss to Morocco, head coach Thomas Dennerby admitted that while his team was able to match opponents physically, they still had some way to go technically.
A cold, hard truth that is perhaps a bitter pill to swallow. Especially after an encouraging performance from India's U-17 contingent. The stats and the scoreline were all in favour of Morocco, but for the first 50 minutes, India held their own. As captain Astam Oraon noted in the mixed zone after the game, coach Dennerby had "asked them to show the hard work of the previous 8-9 months on the field."
After the 8-0 rout suffered against the USA on matchday 1, many teams would have crumbled. Yet, India took to the pitch with a ferocity that shocked a Moroccan side that had limited Brazil in their previous game. Nitu Linda, Anita Kumari and Neha led the charge up front, biting into tackles, hounding their opponents into mistakes and contributing to a charged atmosphere within the Kalinga stadium.
The midfield and defence were impressive, keeping their opponents at bay, intercepting plenty of balls and starting off attacks that often morphed into half-chances. For fifty minutes, India dared to dream, but then the reality of football hit them like a cold shower.
A ball bouncing into Naketa's arms, Melody Chanu spilling a cross into Yasmine Zouhir's path, and the game was over. In another universe, the ball hits Naketa's shoulder, Melody collects the ball, Anita Kumari scores a gilt-edged chance in the 83rd minute, and India are celebrating a historic win. This, however, was a night for truths.
And the truth of the matter was that India simply weren't prepared. It's not to castigate the team, the coach or its support staff, who've been away from their families for five months or more, hoping to prepare a team that wouldn't be found out on the world stage. The failure of the system was already on display against the United States, to repeat it is simply beating a dead horse.
And yet, with news emerging that the team went into this World Cup without a team psychologist/mental conditioning coach, Team India continues to raise eyebrows. Much of the squad played an international game for the first time in 2022 - to enter a tournament of this magnitude without the requisite mental support reeks of incompetence, and worse, negligence.
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Established countries like the United States, Brazil and even Germany, who travelled with a support contingent exceeding FIFA's allowance, place huge importance on the mental aspect of the game. Even India's opponents Morocco, credited their victory because of a change in mentality at half-time, with their coach saying "I think this kind of competition, you need to have mental strength. It's really now [a World Cup] that you have to show it. But you don't have to pressure yourself because sometimes that can be a mistake."
It's not like India have had an easy preparation either - Covid disrupting plans - forcing a new team to be scouted by Alex Ambrose, who went on to be sacked after allegations of sexual misconduct. India's support staff may have addressed these issues privately, one can only speculate. The truth is showing on the pitch though.
Sudha Tirkey admitted in the mixed zone after the game that nerves crept into India's game after conceding the first goal. Why wouldn't it, after all? When the girls have been abandoned to fend for themselves mentally in the most high-profile event of their lives, which human being wouldn't make a mistake, let alone 16/17-year-old girls?
When quizzed about the situation with the team psychologist after the game, Dennerby's reply was brusque, saying "I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to talk about this game."
The willingness with which India are ready to brush their apparent missteps under the carpet is troubling, and with a dead rubber against Brazil still to come, it seems for all the world that this tournament will be swiftly brushed under the carpet too, never to be spoken about again.
Except, for the 21 girls of this squad, this will stay with them. For their entire lives. And that is a bitter truth. Not one they deserve.