India women's football team midfielder Indumathi Kathiresan said that communicating with the players on the field is an important aspect, as it helps the team in knowing what mistakes they are making.
"It's all about communicating on the field to fill in the missing areas, when you're playing in the midfield. People mistake it to be pointing out the mistakes of others. But it's not about that. If I don't do it, they may not know what they've done wrong, and vice versa," said Indumathi Kathiresan as per an AIFF release.
"When they (my teammates) look into my eyes on the pitch, they should know that even if they make an error, I'll give my life to come and help them; and when I look into their eyes, I too want to see the same. That's what playing for the country is all about. That's what football is all about," she added.
While the 27-year-old midfield general stresses the importance of communicating with your teammates, it was not too long back that she herself found communication one of the hardest parts of football.
"I had then got called up for a National Team trial among 50 girls. But I was the only one from Tamil Nadu. No other girl spoke Tamil, and I could not speak either Hindi or English, so I could not really communicate with anyone. Not being able to speak to anyone around you for more than a month is really difficult," said Indumathi Kathiresan.
The AFC Asian Cup is just around the corner, and the Blue Tigresses have played a number of friendly matches in the UAE, Bahrain, Sweden and Brazil as part of their preparation for the continental extravaganza. The 27-year-old midfielder feels that the matches were of a very high quality, something that puts the team in good stead.
"The friendly matches have helped a lot. All the matches were of a high quality. We played all of them thinking of the Asian Cup. The Brazil match was especially very tough. We tried so hard to manage that game, everyone gave their best," said the midfielder.
Being the hosts, India are in Group A of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, and have been drawn alongside IR Iran (January 20), Chinese Taipei (January 23), and China PR (January 26). Having played both Iran and Chinese Taipei in the last two years, Indumathi believes that every inch of the turf will have to be fought for against all the teams in Group A of the Asian Cup.
"We have improved a lot, but they would also have come to fight in Asian Cup. I feel it will be a fight until the bitter end, but we are ready to give everything. We will take it match by match," said Indumathi Kathiresan.
( With inputs from ANI )
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