The senior women's team have landed in Jordan to play two friendlies against the host and Egypt. The Blue Tigress began their preparatory camp in Goa a week ago. This set of friendlies comes after the team faced a major disappointment after forcibly getting eliminated from the Asian Cup due to a Covid outbreak in the camp earlier this year.
It was difficult for the girls to exit the competition in such an unfortunate way. These two matches are expected to bring back some positivity and a chance to play the game they love. Even though those are only friendlies in nature with two lower-ranked nations involved, there will be a competitive edge for India to tackle.
"For sure, we want to have two very good games against quality opponents. We have equal respect for both, but we have a very good team, and we expect to have two good performances," said head coach Thomas Dennerby.
Fixtures:
April 5, 2022: India vs Egypt, 10.30 PM IST
April 8, 2022: Jordan vs India, 10.30 PM IST
All matches will stream live on Jordan FA's official Youtube channel.
The Blue Tigresses face Egypt in the first friendly on Tuesday evening. They are the lowest-ranked team in this trio-nation friendly. The Cleopatras competed in the final round of the African Women's Cup Of Nations or AFWCON qualifiers last time and reached the semifinals of the Arab Women's Cup in 2021.
India play their second friendly on 8th April against Jordan. The hosts are ranked 63rd on the FIFA rankings, four places behind India. So, tough competition is expected. Only founded in 2005, Jordan played a series of friendlies in 2021 and competitive games like the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification and Arab Women's Cup as well.
All of the nations will play their first games this year.
Squad
GOALKEEPERS: Aditi Chauhan, Shreya Hooda, Sowmiya Narayanasamy.
DEFENDERS: Dalima Chhibber, Sweety Devi, Ritu Rani, Ashalata Devi, Ranjana Chanu, Manisa Panna, Kritina Devi.
MIDFIELDERS: Anju Tamang, Sandhiya Ranganathan, Karthika Angamuthu, Ratanbala Devi, Priyangka Devi, Sanju Yadav, Martina Thokchom.
FORWARDS: Grace Dangmei, Soumya Guguloth, Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa, Renu Rani, Mariyammal Balamurugan.
It is always intriguing to see new and young faces being called up to the national camp in the final 23 players squad. Defender Kristina Devi, midfielder Martina Thokchom and forward Mariyammal Balamurugan have impressed before in different age groups, now willing to earn their first cap for the senior team. The rest of the squad is retained from the Asian Cup in January. The average age of the squad is 21 years. This generation of players are the future to take women's football in India forward.
