Sports News | Indian Women's Football Team Looks to Win Maiden International Title Outside South Asia
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. The Indian women's team will aim to clinch its maiden international title outside the South Asian region when it takes on Kosovo in their concluding round-robin match of the Turkish Women's Cup here on Tuesday.
Alanya (Turkey), Feb 26 (PTI) The Indian women's team will aim to clinch its maiden international title outside the South Asian region when it takes on Kosovo in their concluding round-robin match of the Turkish Women's Cup here on Tuesday.
The Indian women will need a win on Tuesday to take the trophy home as they are currently at second spot in the league standings below Kosovo on the basis of inferior goal difference.
The Blue Tigresses have won their two matches in the four-team round-robin league, securing victories against Estonia (4-3) and Hong Kong (2-0) to accumulate six points.
Kosovo have also garnered six points with victories against Hong Kong (1-0) and Estonia. They are, however, ahead of India as they have plus-four goal difference as against plus-three of India.
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There will be no final match and the team which tops the round-robin league standings will lift the trophy.
Ironically, India and Kosovo are the highest and lowest-ranking sides in the tournament at 65th and 100th respectively, according to the latest FIFA chart.
Hong Kong and Estonia are ranked at 79th and 98th respectively.
India head coach Chaoba Devi is aware of the historic importance of Tuesday's match.
"Tomorrow's match against Kosovo holds immense importance for us and securing a win and taking the trophy back home would be a historic achievement," she said ahead of the Kosovo clash.
"Our girls are motivated. They are hardcore professionals, well-versed in every aspect of preparation, from nutrition to rest. They are looking fresh and fully prepared for the challenge ahead," said Chaoba, herself a former India captain.
She admitted that Kosovo would present a far greater challenge than Estonia or Hong Kong.
"After studying their past matches, I am confident that if our girls unite and play together, we can win. We must treat this match as the final, with no room for anything but victory. We don't have any plan B with us.
"We have played against teams like Romania, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan earlier. However, Kosovo, having potential players, pose a different challenge. They will not treat us lightly and will not allow us space to score, but we will be ready for the challenge,” she said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)