New Delhi: With the Indian Super League taking place entirely in Goa, Maharashtra’s sporting venues have been deprived of top-tier senior football since the pandemic outbreak in March 2020. But that will change Thursday evening as the state gets set to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which will be historic for more reasons than one.
The 2022 edition of the Women’s Asian Cup will mark the first appearance of the Indian women’s team at a major international tournament since the 2018 Asian Games.
They will also be playing hosts for the first time since the Women’s Asian Cup in 1980.
In the early 1980s, the Women’s Asian Cup was a six-team affair with a round-robin stage and the top two contesting the final. As one of the better teams in an underrepresented Asian Football Confederation for women at the time, India achieved two runners-up finishes and one third place position between 1980 and 1983.
But India never entered the tournament again until 1995, commencing a period of five consecutive Asian Cups in which they failed to progress past the group stage, followed by nearly two decades of failing to qualify for the tournament entirely, as the women’s game became a more competitive sport.
Fast-forward to 2022 and the Women’s Asian Cup now includes 12 teams divided in three groups of four. India have qualified as hosts.
After facing tournament debutants Iran Thursday in Navi Mumbai, India will face Chinese Taipei on 23 January, also in Navi Mumbai, before heading to Andheri West to take on eight-time champions and Women’s World Cup regulars in China.
The tournament will be held within a Covid-safe bio bubble in three of the state’s footballing hubs — the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri West, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Shri Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi outside Pune.
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Life without Bala Devi & lack of prep
Preparation for this historic tournament, however, has been less than ideal for the Indian side, who will be without star striker Bala Devi, India’s all-time top scorer with 52 goals from 58 games and the focal point of the team’s attack.
Devi had sustained a serious knee injury while playing for Glasgow-based club Rangers last season and returned to India to complete the remainder of her rehabilitation, bringing an encouraging 18-month stint to an end.
One of three Indian women’s players in recent years to have plied her trade overseas in club football, Devi and her on-field contributions in the final third will be dearly missed.
Since his appointment as India’s head coach, replacing Maymol Rocky in August 2021, Thomas Dennerby and his staff have soldiered on, building the attack around the likes of Dangmei Grace, Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa and Sandhiya Ranganathan.
While several of these forwards India’s 23-member squad are inexperienced at the highest level, the midfield and backline consist of relative veterans such as captain Ashalata Devi, goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, who previously played for West Ham United, and versatile right-back and defensive midfielder Dalima Chhibber, who spent two years playing varsity football at the University of Manitoba.
But the biggest challenge for Dennerby and company to ensure cohesive on-field performances sans Bala Devi has been a lack of consistent match time. The latest season of the top division Indian Women’s League was scheduled to take place in New Delhi in April 2021 but postponed due to the Covid-19 second wave.
With no rescheduled date in sight since then, Dennerby has had to rely on training camps, nine friendly matches abroad from October onwards, and two local games against an unspecified All Stars side to assess his players’ form and fitness levels.
The Indian Women's Team ?? played a practice game against an All Stars ? team in Kochi, Kerala, this evening, with the match ending in the formers' favour ?
IND 4-0 ASTR#BackTheBlue ? #ShePower ? #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/65cTa4ggJe
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) December 15, 2021
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India’s chances at the tournament
Under Dennerby’s stint, India have suffered six defeats in the friendlies against South American nations, Swedish clubs and Tunisia. However, they picked up three victories against Bahrain, the UAE and Chinese Taipei in the first half of October.
Not only did these victories include clean sheets against Chinese Taipei and Bahrain, but the combined 10 goals scored also came from a wider range of the outfield players, instead of relying on a solitary striker. Forwards Xaxa and Kalyan were the only goal scorers who featured multiple times.
However, performances across the last few years have meant that 57th placed India is ranked significantly below group opponents 39th placed Chinese Taipei and 19th placed China, which makes the opener against 70th ranked Iran the most realistic source for three points.
According to the tournament format, the top two teams in each group as well as the best two third-placed teams qualify for the quarter finals.
A potential victory against Iran and draw against Chinese Taipei would likely ensure a historic quarter-final place for an Indian side that has lacked significant opportunities and suffered from skill gaps at the highest level.
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