Picture Credit: AFC
The Indian women’s football team will be in Goa from March 28 to April 3 for a seven-day training camp. The camp will start as head coach Thomas Dennerby will take charge of the squad after completing his duties with the India U-18 side in the SAFF Women’s U-18 Championship. Junior players Astam Oraon, Martina Thokchom, and Apurna Narzary will also join the senior team.
“It was good for everyone, the players and the coaches to get a brief break before returning to camp once again. I feel everyone will be refreshed and ready to take on the new challenges that lie ahead for us all,” Dennerby said in a release issued by AIFF.
“For sure, we are going to give it our very best and prepare once again (after the disappointment). We have a very good team, and we have already known that. Now it's a matter of taking that forward," said Dennerby.
The Indian team had to pull out of the AFC Women's Asian Cup on 23 January as they couldn’t name a full team for the match against Chinese Taipei because of injuries and COVID-positive results.
The rules specified that a team should have a bare minimum of 13 players to compete in a match. But the Indian team had only 11 fit players for the match against Chinese Taipei at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
The Indian women's national player Dalima Chhibber while speaking to the IANS expressed how all her teammates "were devastated" by the team’s early exit from the AFC Women's Asian Cup due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the squad.
India's Probable Squad:
Goalkeepers: Aditi Chauhan, Linthoingambi Devi, Shreya Hooda, Sowmiya Narayanasamy.
Defenders: Dalima Chhibber, Sweety Devi, Ritu Rani, Ashalata Devi, Ranjana Chanu, Manisa Panna, Astam Oraon, Kritina Devi.
Midfielders: Anju Tamang, Sandhiya Ranganathan, Karthika Angamuthu, Ratanbala Devi, Priyangka Devi, Kashmina, Indumathi Kathiresan, Sanju, Martina Thokchom, Sumithra Kamaraj.
Forwards: Apurna Narzary, Grace Dangmei, Soumya Guguloth, Manisha, Pyari Xaxa, Renu, Karishma Shirvoikar, Mariyammal Balamurugan.