Yangon (Myanmar), July 11: Odisha forward Pyari Xaxa, who scored the lone goal for India against hosts Myanmar in their first soccer friendly match two days ago, is confident that a spirited performance of the team can tilt the result in their favour.
Pyari was all praise for their Head Coach Chaoba Devi and other support staff. She stated that Chaoba and other coaches have been extremely supportive. We are all committed and determined to do well in our next match on Friday, she added.
The Odisha forward Pyari also admitted that the first match was overall a god game and a nice learning curve for the team. But the Indians did committed a few mistakes, which they are keen to rectify in the next game.
The visitors need to play more as a cohesive unit and complement each other. If that is done efficiently, then India can win against Myanmar and other better teams in future, Pyari revealed.
The second and final FIFA friendly match between India and Myanmar will be played at Yangon’s Thuwunna Stadium on Friday.
Meanwhile, Indian women's team head coach Chaoba Devi feels that her players need to focus on their finishing skills after missing plenty of scoring opportunities in the narrow 1-2 defeat in the opening match.
On Tuesday, Myanmar took an early lead in the 14th minute with a header from Win Theingi Tun off a corner kick. Pyari Xaxa equalised for India in the 58th minute. However, San Thaw Thaw scored the decisive goal for Myanmar in the 74th minute.
Though India tried to score the second goal and level the match 2-2, but they failed to convert half chances into goals. Myanmar defenders too foiled a few certain chances by Indian forwards including a few by Pyari, who was the lone scorer for India in the first friendly.