Catch up time for India against lowly UAE
As things stand, India will now have to win both their matches against UAE and Jordan and hope Jordan or Bangladesh put a spanner in the works of Iran to stand a chance of topping the group.
Chances then are that it will boil down to goal difference and as done by other teams, the girls in blue will also look to make the most of this fixture to plunder as many as they can and bridge the gap on Jordan who are placed a rung above them in the table.
At the moment Iran occupy pole position with six points from 2 matches with Bangladesh second with same number of points but having played a match more. Jordan are six ahead of India on goal difference with both outfits having 3 points from two matches.
This is a match where we have to settle the difference of goals. We know we need to win the next two to stay in the hunt” Head Coach Maymol Rocky told www.the-aiff.com on the eve of the match.
No disrespecting the opposition, but even a Devon Loch moment looks like a herculean task for this UAE side who have shipped 23 goals in three matches so far, scoring only one goal against Jordan that too after letting in eight.
Listless as they have looked to say the least, these girls who do not have a senior team to look up to neither a FIFA Ranking to jostle for are here for the learning curve, which is still in a nascent stage.
“We don’t have a senior female team. This is the team that will make the grade in years to come,” travelling manager with the team Aliah Rahman had told reporters during the pre tournament media interaction.
“We just started with women’s football. These girls are with us for two years and are playing their first competition,” the manager had further informed.
Not that the scorelines of 9-0 against Iran, 6-0 against Bangladesh and 8-1 against Jordan depict otherwise but the initiative to finally bring women into the fold is certainly laudable.
“We are here to take experience of playing in a full competition. How things are? The girls will go back home and train under a good coach in Samir Landolsi from Tunisia.
"Our girls are mostly U-14. This is a long term project of developing women’s football in a country where it is difficult to find female footballers due to social impediments.”
Image: AIFF Media
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