Marmol Rocky, head coach of the Indian women’s football team, is excited as the team begins its preparation for the forthcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers.
Thirty women footballers have been called up for a national camp that will start from Tuesday in Goa. This is the first senior national women’s camp after coronavirus-induced lockdown.
“The girls have not played football for almost nine months. They are all excited to join the camp. We haven’t seen the women’s team playing for a long time. As of now joining the camp and running on the lush green pitch is what everyone is waiting for,” Maymol said while speaking to the-aiff.com.
“We have been in touch with online sessions and phone calls. But physical interactions always value more, at least in terms of guiding and coaching players. The girls have been following the diet regime and strength and conditioning routine since the start of this unprecedented scenario but the need of the hour is getting used to ball once again,” she added.
The head coach said the initial target of the team would be to get the coordination back.
“Football is a team game and the purpose doesn’t get served until everyone is in sync. We’re looking forward to starting from scratch and get in the grooves quickly.”
In June this year, AFC granted India the right to host the Women’s Asian Cup in 2022. Talking about the tournament, she said: “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup is the biggest tournament that India women’s senior national team will be playing in years. We competed in Olympic qualifiers but the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is a different ball game altogether.”
“We all are excited about that but there lies a huge responsibility in terms of delivering on the pitch. We’ve to be at the top of our preparations so that we can compete from the get-go. Although we still have a year or more, the preparation is a long-term process, and competing with the likes of Asian superpowers will be a massive task,” Maymol added.
