Suzhou (China), May 9 (IANS) After India scripted history by reaching the quarter-finals of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup for the first time ever, head coach Pamela Conti has set eyes on the qualification for the World Cup.

India advanced to the quarter-finals with a 4-0 win against Lebanon in Group B . The win meant India finished behind Japan and Australia but sealed progression as one of the two best third-placed teams.

India will now face hosts China in the quarter-final on Monday, with a place in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup at stake. China finished Group A as toppers, scoring 15 goals against Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, and conceding none. Notably, no Indian women’s team has ever been one win away from qualifying for a FIFA World Cup on merit.

“China are a very strong team, they have many technically gifted players, they are good tactically, and they have the advantage of playing at home with a lot of crowd support,” Conti told aiff.com.

At the same time, the Conti made it clear that India will approach the occasion with the same belief that has defined their campaign so far. “Now we know we will face China, who are a very strong team. We will try to achieve qualification for the World Cup, knowing how difficult it will be,” she said.

“But I already said before the tournament that we would play against every team with dignity, and that is exactly what this team is doing. Playing with dignity gives you something extra, not only in football, but also in life. We will go there to play our game, to make things difficult for them, and hopefully we can win and achieve the World Cup qualification that we all want so much,” she added.

India entered the tournament after a 21-year absence from the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup and were drawn alongside Australia, Japan and Lebanon in a difficult Group B. While defeats against the former two left their qualification hopes hanging in the balance, the Young Tigresses responded emphatically in the decisive final group game.

“For me, the most important thing is that we have given happiness to India, a country that welcomed me so warmly from the beginning. Now we can say that we are among the top eight teams in Asia. If someone had told me this a few months ago, I would not have believed it,” Conti said.

The achievement also represented the reward for months of demanding preparation under the Italian coach, who took charge in January and immediately set high standards within the camp.

“From the first day I arrived, I told the players that we had to work, work, and work. I do not know any other path to success apart from hard work. Nobody complained, nobody got tired of it. We trained for almost three and a half months, twice a day, to achieve this,” she said.

–IANS

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