Kolkata: The Indian women’s football team looked all set to regain their position in FIFA rankings, as they landed in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to play two international friendlies against Malasyia, under Maymol Rocky, their first ever women coach.
This comes as a good news for football fans, as the ladies in blue looks for some game time after being out of action for the last 3-4 months.
Maymol, a former India international said that the 12 day training camp held in Delhi have pumped up the entire team for the upcoming 2 matches, to be held in July 29 and 31. “The two matches will provide the girls valuable match experience which will help them in future. An International match adds to your confidence and the entire squad is looking forward to it”, she said.
The All India Football Federation, often criticised for their failure to input necessary funds into the game have organised the friendlies to provide practise and exposure to the team and Rocky did not forget to thank the AIFF for their initiative.
She said, “I need to thank the AIFF for the two friendlies. Women’s football in India has been on a high with the inaugural edition of the Indian Women’s League being a huge hit earlier this year. This has added to the confidence of the girls as well.”
When asked about her new role, the Tamil Nadu born player, cum coach said, she understands the importance of the job and considered this to be an honour to coach the national side. “It is an honour and a privilege to be the head coach of the senior women’s national side. I know there is pressure on me to perform but ever since I took up coaching, it has always been a dream. The real job starts now,” she added.
The 60th ranked nation last played a competitive football game in the 2018 AFC Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers, where they were knocked out after heavy defeats against North Korea, South Korea and Uzbekistan. However they did manage to beat Hong Kong in the last game.
Striker Bala Devi, who has been made the captain for the upcoming two matches, considered Malasyia to be a strong opponent.
“They are a strong team, but we need to play better than them and we will try our best. We have practised very hard and are raring to go,” said Bala Devi.
She also shed some light on the training methods of the new coach Maymol, saying, “It’s nice to be training under Maymol madam. Though there is always that comfort level with her, she has always been a hard taskmaster. But we are not complaining as we understand that she wants us to be better players.”
Meanwhile, the defending SAFF Champions will definitely look to get back in action, after some much needed practice in the Delhi training camp, where a provisional 25 member squad was trimmed to a 22 member final squad.