The Indian Women’s football team clear the decks for their international friendly match against the United Arab Emirates which is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
Team India are bracing for friendlies as part of their preparations for the AFC Women's Asian Cup, which is set to take place in India in 2022. The tournament will be held from January 20-February 6, 2022.
The senior women's team has been training in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, since mid-August.
The Indian squad are gearing up to step onto the pitch for their first international match in six months. They last played in an international match against Belarus, where they tasted a 1-2 defeat in April.
Head Coach Thomas Dennerby believes a good team performance at the Asian Cup will familiarize women's football in India
Dennerby is hopeful that a good run for team India in the Asian Cup will help in popularizing women's football in the country.
"The mission is to have a successful Asian Cup next year. If we have a successful tournament, it could be huge for India. If we have a successful tournament, it could be huge for India. If you look at the game, in terms of the physical and tactical parts, I must say that we have a lot of players that can play at a very high level," said Head Coach Dennerby.
The Indian team will compete against the UAE national team and the Tunisian national team on October 2 and 4 respectively. Later, they will fly to Bahrain to compete against the Bahrain national team and the Chinese Taipei national team on October 10 and 13 respectively.
Coach Dennerby stated that the whole squad strives to strike a balance in attack and defense. He further went on to say that the team has been working extremely hard on the technical and tactical part of the game.
We are putting a lot of effort into all the sessions. We do five technical and tactical sessions, we do running sessions, we also play friendly games against local sides. We are training hard for the Asian Cup next year.When it comes to defending, our team has to be organized. Every player has to know exactly what they need to do. We want the team to be compact and we are working on that," said Dennerby.
Indian football women’s team friendlies 2021 schedule and fixtures
October 2: UAE vs India
October 4: India vs Tunisia
October 10: Bahrain vs India
October 13: India vs Chinese Taipei
Indian football women’s squad for friendlies in UAE, Bahrain
Goalkeepers: Aditi Chauhan, Maibam Linthoingambi Devi, Shreya Hooda
Defenders: Dalima Chhibber, Sweety Devi, Ritu Rani, Ashalata Devi, Ranjana Chanu, Michel Castanha, Manisa Panna, Astam Oraon
Midfielders: Sangita Basfore, Indumathi Kathiresan, Sanju, Martina Thokchom
Forwards: Dangmei Grace, Anju Tamang,Sandhiya Ranganathan, Soumya Guguloth, Manisha Kalyan, Sumati Kumari, Pyari Xaxa, Renu