Indian women's football team head coach Maymol Rocky believes that travelling to Uzbekistan well in advance, in order to train ahead of the two friendlies will be beneficial for the team.
The Indian team is set to play two friendlies -- against hosts Uzbekistan on Monday and Belarus on April 8, on their visit to the Central Asian nation.
On the eve of the match against Uzbekistan, the All India Football Federation quoted Maymol as saying, "I am very thankful that we were able to come here early and train in Uzbekistan. The weather here is extremely cold. There is a big difference from the one we experienced while training in Goa. But the girls are going all-out for it. We are doing both morning and evening sessions and take the maximum advantage."
India has already faced Uzbekistan a couple of times previously in 2019, and though they were tough encounters, the India head coach believes that things may be different this time, as both the teams have changed somewhat.
"We have played Uzbekistan before. I am sure their team has changed since then. Our team certainly has. I am sure it won't be an easy match for either. Looking forward to it," said Maymol.
However, she feels that playing against such quality opponents will help the side prepare for the long-term goal, which is getting ready for the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022.
"Playing more matches will definitely help the team grow together. I think the girls will need more and more matches. So I think staying together, playing more matches will help us play better games in 2022," she said.
The India head coach has named two different captains for the overseas tours to Turkey (earlier this year when they faced Serbia, Russia and Ukraine) and Uzbekistan. She believes that handing such responsibility to different players will help grow their leadership qualities, which will aid the team in the longer run.
"In my opinion, everybody on the field should be a captain and a leader. I have been trying to build the team for AFC 2022. We need to have everyone taking the charge and responsibility for that. The team is quite young, so everybody gets the chance to take the responsibility," she said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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