India U17 job: Dennerby reveals Why he opted for Dede
Thomas Dennerby has stated he sees former Nigeria international Precious Dede as a role model for young goalkeepers.
Dennerby accepted to handle the India U17 women’s team on November 9 after he left his women’s head coach role with Nigeria and he took Dede as one of his coaching assistants.
Dede, who retired from football in 2016, served as Dennerby’s goalkeeper trainer briefly after he was appointed the Super Falcons coach in 2018 before being redeployed to the U20 team.
After 39-year-old joined his backroom staff as the India U17 girls’ goalkeeper coach, the former Sweden boss shared his reasons behind his choice of the former Super Falcons goalkeeper.
“I am very happy to have Precious Dede here as one of my coaching staff,” Dennerby told Goal.
“Some will be surprised by my choice of her [Dede] because we did not work together for much time in Nigeria. I like her a lot and I know she is a really good goalkeeper coach and also a role model.
“I’m glad to have Per Karlsson and Dede as assistants around now, with some good staff from India. I strongly believe we can achieve great things together with hard work.”
EXCLUSIVE: Thomas Dennerby explains why he chose Precious Dede as India U17 goalkeeper coachhttps://t.co/BKeIzjTp5p #womensfootball #India #Nigeria pic.twitter.com/eYS6Iijl0L
— Samuel Ahmadu (@sam4wigan) November 27, 2019
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For a start, Dennerby and his backroom staff will seek to impress when they compete on home soil in a U16 international competition alongside Sweden, Uganda, and Thailand scheduled for December.
He has been tasked to lead the Asian nation to success at the Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup to be held next year on home soil.