Coach Crispin Chettri not let down by loss

KOLKATA: For those following Indian women’s football, it might have felt like four blows as Russia hammered in four goals en route a dominant win on a rainy evening on Thursday.But for coach Crispin Chettri it was just a learning curve that his young team, with an average age of 23, were on in their bid for a spot in AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2029.“I would rather lose now than not qualify for the Asian Cup,” Chettri said at the post-match interaction at Kishore Bharati Krirangan. “I take all the blame that we played a certain way tactically.”Chettri did not have the likes of Manisha Kalyan or Soumya Guguloth – with the former playing mid-season in Greek top tier for AEK Athens to guide the Indian attack and the latter one of the Indian stars not released by East Bengal in the middle of preparations for AFC Champions League games – or a Sweety Devi to man the defence.But the coach, who acknowledged that “every coach wants his best players to play”, still believes that the match was an opportune stage for the youngsters to perform under pressure in his bid to increase squad depth ahead of the continental qualifiers.“But see Manisha and other are already playing in the best team. When they are not there, few young players get a chance to play with this kind of a competitive team. So, that was my idea,” explained the coach, who has been brought back at the helm after choosing to go with foreign coach for the last Asian Cup in Australia.I’m not complaining that somebody didn’t release the players. That's part and parcel of the game. But it was also a blessing. Two three young players did show their character. So now those who didn’t play are in trouble. If the youngsters start performing, then the competition grows and I have options in selecting the players. That’s how I would move forward.”The 51-year-old also pointed to the areas where improvement was necessary to compete at such high levels as with the world No. 27 Russians after the Indians wilted physically after giving a fight in the opening 40 minutes.“I think we have seen a few things where we lack today. But I think the main problem was our fitness. But we can’t improve our fitness in two days,” he said, having trained with the team in the city from Sept 18.“So, if we could carry the character that we showed in the 40-45 minutes to 60 minutes. That’s a step forward. I would start working with the youngsters towards that end and then take it forward.”With the 69th-ranked team set to take on Russia in a second friendly on Sunday, Chettri can gauge if his young squad has made any progress in challenging their superior opponents.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.