New Delhi, Indian women’s football team coach Maymol Rocky exuded confidence as her team set its course for Nepal, where they will embark on a campaign to defend their South Asian Games (SAG) gold medal.
Women’s football has been included in two previous editions of the South Asian Games (2010 and 2016), and India had come up with winning the gold on both occasions. The India team, which trained in Kolkata for over a week, flew down to Nepal on Sunday.
Speaking to aiff.com ahead of the team’s take-off, Maymol said the team will look to continue its dominance in the South Asian Games.
“We are going in as the defending champions, and I can assure you that we are hungry to win the gold again this year. We have trained hard all year and have played a number of international matches against higher-ranked opponents. So we are prepared to defend our title,” she said.
The Indian women’s team has had a year of positive results, winning the 2019 SAFF Women’s Championship, finishing third behind Spain U-19 and Villarreal Women in the 2019 COTIF Cup, and getting positive results against higher-ranked opponents like Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Maymol believes that regular camps and matches against tough opponents have given the team a lot of confidence and the players do not shy away from facing difficult teams any more.
“AIFF has a pathway for the women’s team. We’ve been together for more than one-and-a-half years, we hold camps every month, and we’ve played more than 20 international matches recently,” the former international footballer said.
“These are things that give them the confidence to play higher-ranked teams. The girls give their 100 per cent, they work hard and are on the right path,” she signed off.