The U-20 Indian ladies’s soccer group has reached Dhaka for the inaugural SAFF U-20 Girls’s Championship beginning on February 3.
The group was acquired on the Hazrat Shahjalal Worldwide Airport, named after the broadly revered Sufi saint, by a courteous bunch of Bangladesh Soccer Federation officers.
Within the inaugural version of the SAFF U-20 Championship 2023, India will kick off their marketing campaign towards Bhutan on Friday. All of the matches of the match might be performed on the Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka. After a four-team round-robin, the highest two groups will play the ultimate on February 9.
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Midfielder Nitu Linda, who scored two targets every within the 2021 SAFF U-19 Girls’s Championship in Bangladesh and the 2022 SAFF U-18 Girls’s Championship in Jamshedpur, is assured of the group profitable one other SAFF title.
“It’s time for the battle forward and all of us are able to get began. Now we have actually labored onerous in these two weeks and are in nice form now. We all know we’ve to win and dish out good performances within the matches forward,” she mentioned.
Shilky Devi, one of many squad’s most senior gamers, mentioned she was wanting ahead to erasing the frustration of final yr’s SAFF U-19 Championship in Bangladesh, the place India misplaced by a purpose to the hosts.
“Now we have arrived right here and now it’s time for us to start out afresh. We had been all heartbroken after we final got here right here in December 2021, however this time, we’ll all be going dwelling with the trophy. That’s what we’re right here for.
“Now we have been coaching beneath two coaches and we’ve discovered completely different expertise and techniques from them that can assist us enhance our video games. It’s time to make them proud, too,” Shilky advised www.the-aiff.com shortly after arriving in Dhaka.
The Younger Tigresses had been coaching onerous in Chennai for the previous two weeks and are decided to take the trophy dwelling. The India U-20 group is a mixture of previous and new faces, which incorporates gamers like Tania Kanti from West Bengal, who’s but to make her Nationwide group debut and is travelling overseas for the primary time.
“I’m very excited as a result of that is my first nationwide group call-up and I’ve travelled overseas to symbolize my nation. It’s a tremendous feeling. I’ll attempt to do my finest in each method doable to make this match a memorable one for me, for the individuals of my nation and my household,” she mentioned.
Martina Thokchom, the skipper of the group, is set to have a profitable marketing campaign in Bangladesh and are available again with the trophy to India on Feb 10. “We’re right here now and we simply need to go all out and win all of the video games and emerge champions. Profitable and gaining expertise might be crucial features of this tour,” Martina mentioned.
The 23-member squad:
Goalkeepers: Monalisha Devi, Anshika, Anjali;
Defenders: Shilky Devi, Astam Oraon, Kajal, Shubhangi Singh, Purnima Kumari, Varshika, Gladys; Midfielders: Martina Thokchom, Kajol Dsouza, Babina Devi, Nitu Linda, Tania Kanti, Shailja; Forwards: Lynda Kom, Apurna Narzary, Sunita Munda, Sumati Kumari, Neha, Sonali Soren, Anita Kumari.
India’s fixtures:
Feb 3: India vs Bhutan, 2:30 pm IST
Feb 5: Bangladesh vs India, 6:30 pm IST
Feb 7: India vs Nepal, 2:30 pm IST.
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