I've seen the potential that these young Indian girls have, says USA coach Natalia Astrain

The tactician also praised the infrastructure.

The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is going to be hosted by India from 11th to 30th October. The tournament will be held across three cities, namely, Bhubaneswar, Margao, and Navi Mumbai. India will begin its campaign right on the first day in the day's 2nd match against the USA. A day before the beginning of the tournament, USA coach Natalia Astrain attended the press conference.

Here, we take a look at what the coach had to say on different aspects of the competition and her team.

On the toughest challenge in the competition

When she was asked to state her opinion on the strongest sides of the tournament that might be a cause of worry for USA, Natalia Astrain did not sound much worried. Instead, she sounded quite excited to play against top teams in a good competition. The tactician commented, "I feel there are different challenges in this group. It is about the challenge and at the same time, it is how we play. I feel every game will be a different challenge. We need to respect our opponents.

"It goes without saying that the tournament will be going to be difficult due to different factors. Taking into consideration, they (India) have their spectators, their field, and all the fans. I feel this is difficult because they (other teams from the group) are very different opponents. I expect they would challenge us in vastly different ways," she added.

Astrain's praises the infrastructure and the people

Natalia Astrain sounded very pleased with the infrastructure, practice ground, and other facilities that Bhubaneswar has on offer for her team. She said, "From the day we are here, (we found that) the fans and the people are amazing. Everyone wanted to help us, the facilities are very good. People are sitting in the fields and all the people are helping to make us feel easy. I also want to thank the people because I feel the way the whole process is going is really fantastic."

Also Read: USA favourites on paper but on pitch it’s 0-0 before kick-off, asserts Thomas Dennerby

On the quality difference between the U-17 and the senior women's team of USA

In her reply to a question probing about the quality difference between the senior women's football team of USA and their U-17 counterparts, Astrain admitted that there is a huge difference. She also opined that work needs to be done to bridge this gap.

She quoted, "I think yes, at the senior level, USA is a more powerful team. Since a few years ago, we are making changes in our style of game at the U-17 level. The players are enjoying the process, they are enjoying the way we are trying to play. I feel they (USA players) will enjoy the way we want to play and will want to play our style of game. By following this process, I believe USA, in near future, will be very successful."

On playing against India in their homeland

In her reply to a question on her feeling about playing against India in their homeland, this is what the coach said, "I am super excited. We are doing our part by putting in the extra effort in our training. I think India will be a great opponent to play against, especially here in India. I know their culture and the passion that everyone has, so it is going to be super exciting. It would be an inspiring tournament for all the young girls here.

"I just want to say to them (Indian youngsters) that if they work hard and if they have passion, they can achieve anything in their lives regardless of what society says. I have seen the potential that many of these young girls have," Astrain praised.

On the title challenge from Mexico

Natalia Astrain was asked about the title challenge posed by Mexico. She admitted that it would not be easy to play against them. The tactician said, "Mexico is a really good team. The fact that they are here is really good. I think it will be a good tournament. We expect to meet Mexico at the longer end of the competition. They are doing a good job and they might provide a good challenge."