The Indian women’s football team will kick-off its COTIF Cup 2019 campaign in Valencia, Spain, on Thursday, where it will face Equatorial Guinea in its opening game. Speaking ahead of the match, head coach Maymol Rocky said playing tough teams in the competition will put her team in good stead.
“Definitely, the match against Guinea will be a tough one. African teams are always difficult to play against. They are strong, they are tough, they are speedy,” she said. “That match will give us a proper estimation of where we stand against quality opponents, and how we can play against them.”
READ| FIFA rankings: Indian women’s football team jumps six places to 57
India had a three-week camp in New Delhi ahead of its sojourn to the Iberian Peninsula. Head coach Rocky, assistant coach Chaoba Devi, and goalkeeping coach Rajat Guha were in charge of the camp.
“We also have a number of new faces in the squad, and we are hoping that they will improve and go on to increase our squad strength in the future. The main aim for us in the COTIF Cup is to get some international matches under our belt," said Rocky.
Having registered a six-spot rise to number 57 in the FIFA Women’s rankings, the India Women’s team will now be looking to further build on this progress, with one eye on the FIFA World Cup qualifiers next year.
“For me, right now, the most important thing is to play these matches against top teams in order to get our team ready for the challenges ahead,” Rocky said.
List of fixtures -
August 1: India vs Villarreal CF - 11:30pm
August 3: India vs Bolivia - 11:30pm
August 4: India vs Mauritania - 10:15pm
August 8: India vs Spain U19 - 12am
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