NMI faces Thailand in AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers | Sports

THE NMI U17 Women’s National Team faced host Thailand Wednesday evening, April 26, in the Asian Football Confederation-Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers at Buriram City Stadium in Buriram, Thailand.

“The team needs to focus more on collective defending as Thailand players are individually quick and very skilled on the ball,” NMI Team Manager Catherine Attao-Toves said prior to the game.

 “Thailand will possess the ball most of the time so our objective is to prevent their shooting chances. Constant communication is also crucial to achieve our objectives,” she added.

During the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers press conference on Tuesday, April 25, NMI assistant coach Jershwin Angeles noted:  “Unlike Thailand, we did not have one year to prepare, but we made sure the girls are coming into the tournament physically and mentally prepared because we are facing the tough teams in Asia.”

She said the NMI players “are nervous as we have a very young team and most of our players will be away from their home island for the first time, so this is a very big challenge for them. However, we could see from our training [on Monday] that they are adjusting well, and they are ready for the first match.”

The result of the game  will be featured in Variety’s next edition.