Indian women's football head coach Maymol Rocky on Saturday said that the team is more prepared than last year for the COTIF Cup.
"We played the COTIF Cup last year as well, but I think we are more prepared this time around. The players have really improved over this last year, and we saw that in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Olympic Qualifiers Round 1 and Round 2," AIFF quoted Rocky as saying.
Last year the Indian women's side created history as they progressed to the AFC Olympic Qualifiers.
Rocky said that their next objective is the AFC Qualifiers and the team needs to prepare for it. The team missed out in the round two of the AFC Qualifiers by a small margin. She added that the qualification for the Asian Championship will be a milestone for the team and the team needs to be prepared for that.
"Now, it's time for us, as a team, to take things forward from here. We missed out in Round 2 of the Olympic Qualifiers by a whisker, but I feel that our next objective should definitely be the AFC Qualifiers. Qualification for the Asian Championship will be a big step for this team, and that is something that we all need to prepare ourselves for," she said.
The camp also saw the introduction of a number of new faces, many of whom had impressed the Head Coach with their performances in the Indian Women's League, earlier this year. While Rocky believes that these players still have a long road ahead of them, proper work can get them to the levels where they may get the desired results for the Tricolour.
The Indian squad saw a number of new faces in the side for the upcoming COTIF Cup.
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"It's been a very fruitful few weeks at the camp, where we have implemented some new training techniques. The results are really paying off, as I've seen a number of the player make good improvements over this period," Rocky said.
"We brought a number of new faces to the camp, and they have been adjusting to the different training techniques and schedules really well. Of course, they all have a long way to go to reach the levels we are aiming for, but there's nothing that hard work and dedication can't achieve," she concluded.
Indian women's squad for the COTIF Cup:
Goalkeepers: Linthoingambi Devi, Aditi Chauhan, Sowmiya Narayansamy
Defenders: Sweety Devi, Jabamani Tudu, Ashalata Devi, Michel Castanha, Pakpi Devi
Midfielders: Sangita Basfore, Sanju Yadav, Ratanbala Devi, Manisha, Ritu Rani, Grace Lalrampari, Ranjana Chanu
Forwards: Anushka Samuel, Dangmei Grace, Anju Tamang, Bala Devi, Renu, Roja Devi, Daya Devi.
India's fixtures in the COTIF Cup are as follows: India vs Guinea: August 1 India vs Bolivia: August 3Mauritiana vs India: August 4Spain vs India: August 5 Final: August 8.
The Indian team will play their first match against Guinea on August 1 and the final of the tournament will be played on August 8.