After Bangladesh hosted and won the previous edition of this tournament in the year 2021, the SAFF U-19 Women's Championship is now going to be hosted in India and will commence on the 15th of March, 2022.
Head Coach of the Women’s national team, Thomas Dennerby, who's going to lead his side into the tournament that’ll be played on their turf, recently announced the probable squad that is going to represent India in the tournament and has expressed his joy and faith upon the shortlisted women who could bring about a promising future for the Indian football.
When asked about the upcoming tournament and his chosen side, here’s what the former Swedish and Nigerian Women’s team Head Coach had to say. “We have a lot of good players in the squad, and these girls pose a really bright future for women’s football in India. The great thing about them is that they have been properly educated about football from a very young age. The key now is to keep on with that. They need to keep training properly on a regular basis.”
Keeping in mind the importance and the takeaways for the participating members of the Indian squad from the tournament, Coach Dennerby further stated, “The SAFF tournament will be crucial for the girls here. A tournament is a tournament, and the results are important. There will be a little pressure on the players, but it will be good to play under such pressure.”
With the tournament just a few days away from its kick-off, the U-17 squad have taken their training underway in the city of Jamshedpur with infrastructural and logistical aid from the Government of Jharkhand ahead of their fixtures against Nepal and Bangladesh, respectively. The scheduled fixtures for the Indian squad in the SAFF tournament is as follows and will be played at the home stadium of Jamshedpur FC, JRD Tata Sports Complex.
Fixtures:
March 15: India vs Nepal
March 19: Bangladesh vs India
March 21: Nepal vs India
March 25: India vs Bangladesh
After a hiatus of two years post pandemic, the Furnace will officially witness its first major tournament and they are going to be four big ones.
Here’s the probable squad shortlisted by the Head Coach ahead of the forthcoming SAFF tournament -
Goalkeepers: Hempriya Seram, Melody Chanu Keisham, Adrija Sarkhel.
Defenders: Astam Oraon, Nisha, Ritu Devi, Purnima Kumari, Naketa, Kajal, Varshika.
Midfielders: Shilky Devi Hemam, Poonam, Subhangi Singh, Priyanka Sujeesh, Martina Thokchom, Babina Devi, Nitu Linda.
Forwards: Anita Kumari, Rejiya Devi, Amisha Baxla, Sunita Munda, Lynda Kom Serto, Apurna Narzary.
