As the team gears up to face Vietnam in two friendly matches, Indian women's team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan said Vietnam will be a tough challenge for them.
"Vietnam is going to be a tough challenge. We have seen the video clips of their matches against Myanmar and others. We know it will be a tough battle for us, a bigger challenge than Uzbekistan and the matches we played in Spain. But we are ready for it," Chauhan told .
The Indian team has won the SAFF Women's Championship, impressed in the AFC Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 and finished third in the COTIF Cup in Spain this year, set camp in New Delhi for six days before flying off to Vietnam.
"The preparations are going well, we have been together for four-five days and leaving for Vietnam today. Where we will be playing matches on November 3 and 6. We had few new players who were selected from the senior national and got a chance to be part of our camp," Chauhan said.
"Overall I think the decent exposure we had will be very beneficial. We know we are getting better with every match hopefully, we will be able to use that in that matches against Vietnam," she added.
The team's target is to perform well in the AFC Championship 2020 and to get a better result in that as they have scheduled theses friendly matches."Our target is AFC Championship, next year. That is what we have been training for. That is what we have been playing all these friendly matches. We will improve a lot and that's how we aim to progress and to do well in the Championship. That is our final goal for now," the 26-year-old goalkeeper said.
She has previously played for English club West Ham United Ladies where she learned a lot and gained experience which she shares with her teammates.
"I learnt a lot from that experience. The game is much more physical, faster, and it is more demanding. Not just from the on-field players but also from coaches and from the fans of the club. It was a completely different experience. Since I have been back in India, I have tried to use that experience and knowledge and share it with other girls in the team," Chauhan said.
Talking about the coach Maymol Rocky, Chauhan termed her as a 'leader' as she knows about her players very well and under her guidance team has improved a lot.
"She is the leader of the team as she has been with the team for a long time. Earlier, she was the assistant coach and now she has taken over as the head coach. She knows most of the player and their strength and weakness too," Chauhan said.
"That is how she structured our game strategy around that so that we can best use the quality of players available. That is the reason why we have been doing well under her. Our ranking has also improved. Those are all positive sign that shows the kind of leader she is," she added.
The team will play their first friendly match against Vietnam on November 3.
( With inputs from ANI )