'Girls were too nervous,' says Thomas Dennerby on India's defeat to USA

India was handed an 8-0 defeat at the hands of a much superior USA team in their first match at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Addressing the media post-match, head coach Thomas Dennerby gave his thoughts on his team's unexpected performance.

"I know team India can play a bit better than this. I felt that the girls were too nervous, playing their first World Cup match. We weren't even trying to pass the ball to each other, but defending and sending the ball away," the coach summarised.

Despite the loss, the Swede hopes that his team can show all of India what they are capable of when they face Morocco in their next match.

"I told the girls that if the Sun will rise in India anyway. If you have a sleepless night then we won't be able to perform against Morocco. I'll be there tomorrow morning with a smile and try to encourage the girls," Dennerby said on lifting the team's spirits.

Out of the eight goals conceded, about a couple of them came from corners. "I was a little bit surprised because we usually defend our set-pieces well, but obviously that wasn't the case today," he said honestly.

The coach had lauded his team's performance against Sweden few weeks back in Spain, but he conceded that USA was different class. "I didn't expect us to concede so many goals. If you look at our match against Sweden, we defended well and created some chances. But honestly, USA was just one level up, at least," he concluded.