COTIF Cup 2019: The match against Equatorial Guinea will be tough- Maymol Rocky

The tactician also stressed that the primary aim for her is to get the Indian side ready for the challenges ahead.

The Senior Indian Women’s Team is all set to kick-off its COTIF Cup 2019 campaign in Valencia, Spain, on Thursday (August 1, 2019) where they will face-off against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game. Speaking ahead of the match, Head Coach Maymol Rocky opined that playing tough teams in the competition will put her team in good stead.

“Definitely, the match against Guinea will be a tough one. African teams are always difficult to play against. They are strong, they are tough, they are speedy,” she said. “That match will give us a proper estimation of where we stand against quality opponents, and how we can play against them.”

India, who had a three-week-long camp in New Delhi ahead of their sojourn to the Iberian Peninsula, which was overseen by Head Coach Maymol Rocky, Assistant Coach Chaoba Devi, and Goalkeeping Coach Rajat Guha.

“We have had a good three weeks of preparation with the squad, where we have worked on a number of things to improve the overall game that we play,” said Rocky, before adding, “We also have a number of new faces in the squad, and we are hoping that their improvement will go on the increase our squad strength in the future."

“The main aim for us in the COTIF Cup is to get some international matches under our belt. We will be facing some tough teams this time, and that will really give us the match-experience that we are looking for, in order to take this team forward,” she continued. 

Having registered a massive six-spot rise to number 57 in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, the Indian Women’s National Team will now be looking to further build on this progress, with one eye on the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers next year.

“For me, right now, the most important thing is to play these matches against top teams in order to get our team ready for the challenges ahead,” Rocky said.

India are set to square-off against Equatorial Guinea on Thursday, August 1, at 11.30 pm IST.