AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: With three wins under their belt, the Indian Women’s Team will now take on Swedish Dammalsvenskan (tier 1) league side Hammarby IF in a friendly match in Stockholm on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. This is the first of the two friendlies they will play in the Scandinavian country.

The Indian Women’s Team had their preparatory camp in Jamshedpur with infrastructural and logistical aids from the Government of Jharkhand. Following the month-long camp, the Indian Women’s Team played four matches against UAE (4-1) and Tunisia (0-1) in the UAE; Bahrain (5-0) and Chinese Taipei (1-0) in Bahrain.

“It’s a big challenge for us in Sweden, but the girls are motivated to give their best in every game,” said goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan on the eve of the match. “It’s often about who wants more on the pitch, and our girls are certainly pumped up after the results that we have had recently,” she added.

The Indian Women’s Team, under the tutelage of the Swedish coach, scored ten in four games while leaking two, to have registered three wins and one loss.

“These games have been very helpful for the team. They helped us reflect on the team and individual performances. These matches helped us look at our strengths and weaknesses,” Dalima Chhibber continued, “As a team, we are focused on building up to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup next year, and competitive matches like these help us plan for the areas where we need to improve.”

Aditi Chauhan thanked the authorities for helping the team arrange a number of competitive friendlies for the team to prepare for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

“I would like to thank the Jharkhand Government and the Federation for arranging the camps and tournaments. It’s great for us to get these opportunities to play matches,” the goalkeeper asserted.

“Playing matches always help you learn more from the training ground. We got a few good results and there have been lots of positives to take back from these games. Even the Tunisia game that we lost helped us learn a lot of things.”

Dalima mentioned that the team is working hard to adapt to the philosophy that coach Thomas Dennerby is trying to inculcate in the team.

“We are working with a new coaching philosophy both on and off the field. The preparations for the flagship tournament is going on in full swing,” she concluded, “We are all looking to prepare the best we can for the AFC Women's Asian Cup.”