The Indian National Women’s Team that will be on International duty for over a fortnight has been announced. The team will play 4 games in 11 days. The upcoming AFC Women’s Asia Cup is the primary focus and thus it will be vital to their preparations. The team has been training in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand for over a month.
The team will leave for the UAE on September 29. They will face the national teams of the UAE and Tunisia in a space of 2 days. After that, they will travel to Bahrain to face the national teams of Bahrain and Chinese Taipei. The team was set to travel to Sweden following the games at Bahrain but those fixtures stand on hold.
Head Coach Thomas Dennarby acknowledged the tremendous work put in by the AIFF to find games for the squad. The Swede believes that the team has to improve a lot in terms of how they build up and continue but know that the friendlies will do them the world of good in that respect.
Indian National Women’s Squad and Fixtures
Friendlies Schedule:
October 2: UAE vs India
October 4: India vs Tunisia
October 10: Bahrain vs India
October 13: India vs Chinese Taipei
Squad:
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.
According to the latest FIFA rankings, the National team stands 57th globally and 13th in Asia. India have qualified for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asia Cup as host. This tournament will serve as the qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that will take place in Australia and New Zealand. The pandemic has affected the preparation of the teams and thus friendlies like these will play a crucial role in evaluating the success of the squad.
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