23-member India under-19 women’s football team on Wednesday left for Bangladesh to participate in the five nations SAFF championship to be held in between 11th to 22nd December at Dhaka.
The India U-19 side did training in Goa to prepare for the tournament and head coach Alex Ambrose believes that the camp will help the players adapt better. Ambrose believes that playing in SAFF will help the girls understand the level of football played in the international arena.
India is scheduled to play Sri Lanka on December 13, Bhutan on December 15, Bangladesh on December 17 and Nepal on December 19 in a round-robin format.
The top two sides will face each other in the final, which will take place on December 22.
The first edition of the tournament was played in 2018, hosted by Bhutan. India, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Pakistan participated while Sri Lanka withdrawn from the tournament. Six team were divided in two groups with India clubbed with Bhutan and Maldives, India won both the matches, defeating Bhutan 4-0 and Maldives 8-0. However in semifinal India lost to Nepal in shootout 1-1 (1-3). India finished third as they defeated Bhutan 1-0 in third place playoff. Bangladesh went on to win the tournament as they defeated Nepal 1-0 in final.
Indian SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Anshika, Adrija Sarkhel, Manju Ganjhu
Defenders: Astam Oraon, Nisha, Nirmala Devi, Purnima Kumari, Shilky Devi, Ritu Devi, Kritina Devi
Midfielders: Poonam, Nitu Linda, Babina Devi, Santosh, Priyangka Devi, Mariyammal Balamurugan, Anju
Forwards: Karen Estrocio, Amisha Baxla, Lynda Kom Serto, Sumati Kumari, Apurna Narzary, Santhiya Nadupatti Venugadajalam
Head Coach: Alex Mario Ambrose
