AFC Women’s Asian Cup: The AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 is knocking at the door and the host nation, India have announced their 23-member squad for the fight for the continental crown. Indian Women’s team head coach Thomas Dennerby has shown tremendous faith in the youngsters. He has picked four young talents who were part of the India U-19 team which finished as runners up in the SAFF U-19 Championship held in Dhaka, Bangladesh last month. Follow all the Football Updates only on InsideSport.IN
Although the 23-member Women’s team has been announced for the Asian Cup, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) have not announced any captain. But there are rumours that the experienced defender Ashalata Devi will be leading the Blue Tigresses.
🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
Here's the list of 2⃣3⃣ #BlueTigresses 🐯, who will be fighting for 🇮🇳 in the Women's @afcasiancup 🤩#WAC2022 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #ShePower 👧 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/bC9ji4DW6n
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 11, 2022
Coming to the team there are no surprises as 27 players were already present in the national camp held in Kochi.
It will be a huge challenge and experience for four youngsters – Hemam Shilky Devi (defender), Mariyammal Balamurugan (forward), Sumati Kumari (forward) and Naorem Priyangka Devi (defender) who were part of the India U-19 team that finished runners up in last month’s SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship. This will be a big stage for them as the Indian Eves will fight it out against some of the top teams in Asia.
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The Blue Tigresses’ biggest miss will be forward Bala Devi who continues her recuperation after suffering an ACL injury. The rangers forward underwent surgery last September and will be badly missed in the attack. Apart from Bala Devi, the Indian women’s team will also miss the services of star midfielder Sangita Basfore. The youngster is also out with an ACL injury. She picked up the injury during India’s recent exposure tour in Sweden.
Head coach Thomas Dennerby highlights how the team is comprised of several youngster and experienced players. He feels that there is a good level of energy and competition among the players to succeed.
“We have a good bunch of young players, and some experienced heads too. The young ones are hungry to prove themselves, so that brings in a good level of energy and healthy competition for places,” Dennerby averred. “But it also works the other way round — as the experienced players can guide the young ones in different things both on and off the pitch.”
Dennerby pointed out that he wants to focus on one game at a time. He does not complicate too many things and wants his players to simply go out there and play well on a given day. “If you start thinking too much about permutations and combinations, that can take a toll on the way you play the game. The coaches can do all the thinking that we can, but for the players, it’s all about going out there and playing well on the day. Football is a ‘beautiful game,’ and you need to live in the moment to play it well,” he said.
There will be a slight pressure on the Indian Women’s team as India will host the biggest Asian football competition for the first time since 1980 and therefore Dennerby’s ladies will be looking to live up to that expectation.
The Blues Tigresses will be in Group A as they clubbed with top teams like Chinese Taipei, Iran and China. A total of 12 teams are participating in the tournament and are divided into three groups. The entirety of the tournament will be held in the state of Maharastra. Earlier the tournament was scheduled to be held at three different venues which also had Ahmedabad and Bhubaneshwar. But with the rising COVID-19, the AIFF decided to host the matches within the borders of Maharashtra. The three venues assigned are the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai Football Arena and the Baldewadi Stadium.
GOALKEEPERS: Aditi Chauhan (1), Maibam Linthoingambi Devi (23), Sowmiya Narayanasamy (19).
DEFENDERS: Dalima Chhibber (17), Sweety Devi Ngangbam (2), Ritu Rani (21), Loitongbam Ashalata Devi (4), Manisa Panna (3), Hemam Shilky Devi (5), Sanju Yadav (8).
MIDFIELDERS: Yumnam Kamala Devi (6), Anju Tamang (9), Karthika Angamuthu (20), Nongmeithem Ratanbala Devi (7), Naorem Priyangka Devi (14), Indumathi Kathiresan (12).
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