How Joakim Alexandersson’s first Asian foray created history for India’s U-20 women

Joakim Alexandersson has never been to Myanmar before.

In fact, before December 2024, he had never set foot anywhere in Asia.

But there he was on a muggy Yangon evening last week, standing on the touchline at the Thuwunna Stadium, watching 19-year-old Shubhangi Singh and her teammates hold off wave after wave of Myanmar attacks.

A Swede's detour to Indian football

India led 1-0 in a match that was played in the shadow of a 20-year drought, and the Swede’s first continental campaign as U-20 women’s coach.

When the final whistle blew, Alexandersson didn’t pump his fists or slide on his knees. He simply turned to his bench and exhaled.

“It’s hard to describe,” he says now, days later in an exclusive conversation with The Bridge. “We were tired, we were nervous. We had so much to lose… but we deserved to qualify.”

And they had, without conceding a single goal.

When Alexandersson landed in India, the women’s game in the country was still nursing bruises.

The seniors had missed the 2022 Asian Cup knockout stages, not because of results, but because of a COVID outbreak that forced them to forfeit a match they were hosting. The U-20s, meanwhile, had been edged out of their 2023 qualifiers on goal difference to Vietnam.

“I felt it was a huge challenge,” he says. “Something I’d never done before. I’d never been to Asia. But it was exciting in every possible way.”

In the six months since, he has not had the luxury of a grand Indian road trip. He has, however, heard plenty enough to convince him that the raw materials exist. 

“More academies are coming up everywhere,” he says. “That’s how it has to be, more opportunities for young girls to play.”

The dreaded second-half wobble

The noise inside Yangon’s Thuwunna Stadium was not deafening, not in the “can’t-hear-yourself-think” way, but it was constant, a low, unbroken hum that swelled into sharp spikes whenever Myanmar got the ball.

On the touchline, Joakim Alexandersson looked less like a man chasing history and more like someone trying to steady his own heartbeat.

India were 1–0 up, the clock was not moving fast enough and the twenty-year absence from the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup hovered dangerously in the humid air.

It was not supposed to look like this.

Two games earlier, India had held Indonesia in a goalless draw, then flattened Turkmenistan 7–0 like someone had finally found the cheat code.

But this — this was trench warfare. Midfielders cleared into touch. Forwards tracked back until they were practically defenders.

A single Pooja strike in the 27th minute was all they had, and all they could cling to.

The second half was grueling, with Myanmar piling pressure on India’s half. But every time the hosts breached the line, goalkeeper Monalisha Devi was immovable.

In the 80th minute, a deflected shot nearly trickled past the goal line, but Monalisha’s rapid reflexes preserved the clean sheet.

If you thought India sat back by design in Yangon, the coach is clear. “No, that was for sure not any tactical decision,” he says, of the second half.

"The players were tired, of course… but also more stressed because we were leading only with one goal — and one conceding goal would have meant we were knocked out,” he explains.

“It’s natural, you know, in that kind of situation. You start to think more about what can go wrong instead of just playing the way you did before.”

He admits that the shift was obvious from the bench. “They were more stressed about losing the ball — so we just cleared the ball away every time instead of trying to play football like we did in the first half,” he says.

“That’s not how we want to play, but in the moment, with the crowd and the pressure, it’s easy to fall into that.”

It is something he has already made a mental note of.

“We have to work on this in the future, to be better at controlling the game even if we have the lead,” he says. “That comes with more experience, more confidence, and maybe a bit more fitness as well. I look forward to doing that with the team, because if we can manage the ball better in those moments, we can avoid that kind of nervous ending," he adds.

Plugging the leaks

For years, India’s problem was simple and maddening: they could score, but they could not keep the ball out of their own net.

That was the first thing Alexandersson went after.

“We’ve become more aggressive, pressing higher when we can, winning the ball in good areas,” he explains. “We stay more compact, so teams can’t stretch us. The players adapted quickly.”

And in the middle of it all was Captain Shubhangi Singh, a 19-year-old defender from Gujarat with a taste for riling up opposition crowds.

After Myanmar, she called silencing the home fans “the best feeling ever.”

What next

The undercurrent to all this is momentum: the senior women qualified on July 5, 2025, India’s first direct ticket in more than two decades.

Monalisha Devi, the only player in both senior and U-20 qualifying squads, added unique experience. 

“This collaboration is fantastic,” says Alexandersson. “Some of the girls in the U-20 can have training sessions with the senior team, that is awesome. For young players to compete with the best in the country means the world. Hopefully it continues, so that young players get opportunities to join senior camps and develop to take the next step.”

So what then, is the next target? Turns out that the dressing room has not quiet white boarded the answer just yet.

“We haven’t met since we got back home, so we haven’t discussed this,” he says.

Next April, India’s U-20s will play in Thailand against Asia’s best. A top finish there could open the door to the 2027 U-20 World Cup.

"My mindset is always to win. That’s why you play football. The goal is to qualify for the  U20 World Cup, there can’t be anything else.”

Before that, there is the practical matter of preparation. Alexandersson wants long, well-planned camps to sharpen his side.

“I have a lot of plans,” he says. “After I return from the U-17 SAFF Cup in Bhutan, I’ll sit with the federation and work out the schedule.”

Yangon will fade from the headlines, but it will linger in the memories of this squad, the smell of the grass, the ringing in their ears after each clearance, the sudden hush when the final whistle blew.

For a coach who had never been to Asia, and for a group of players who had never played at this stage, it was proof they belonged.

April will bring tougher opponents, higher stakes, and louder stadiums. But for now, India have what they came for: belief, and a seat at the table.