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Indian women's football team coach Thomas Dennerby on Thursday announced a squad of 23 for the upcoming International Women's Football Tournament in Brazil.
The friendly tournament, featuring four teams, begins on 25 November with India facing Brazil in Manaus. South American sides Venezuela and Chile are the other two nations in the competition.
It is a historic occasion for the Indian football as the women's team will be the first-ever senior side to face-off against Brazil.
“Brazil are a really good team. No other team, since I have arrived, has tested our defence as much as Brazil will do next week.” said Dennerby about the seventh-ranked team in the world.
Against Chile (world rank 37) and Venezuela (world rank 56), India might have an "easier" task but definitely not an easy one.
"In the second game, Chile is another extremely technical side, but with all the hard work we have been doing, we have also raised our levels. The game against Venezuela will also be a particularly tough one for us. Of course, the Brazil game will be much tougher than the Venezuela one, but we play hard in both of them." added Dennerby.
India's squad of 23 for the 2021 International Women's Football Tournament of Manaus
Goalkeepers: Aditi Chauhan, M Linthoingambi Devi, Sowmiya Narayasamy.
Defenders: Dalima Chhibber, Sweety Devi, Ritu Rani, Ashalata Devi, Manisa Panna, Shilky Devi, Ranjana Chanu, W Linthoingambi Devi.
Midfielders: Indumathi Kathiresan, Sanju, Anju Tamang, Martina Thokchom, Karthika Angamuthu, Kamala Devi.
Forwards: Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa, Renu, Dangmei Grace, Soumya Guguloth, Mariyammal Balamurugan.
Coach Dennerby has made a number of changes from the squad which toured the UAE, Bahrain and Sweden in the past few weeks. Among the absentees is midfielder Sangita Basfore who, unfortunately, suffered an ACL-injury during the Sweden tour.
Star striker Bala Devi is still recovering from her ACL surgery and will miss out as well. It remains to be seen if she will be available for the AFC Women's Asian Cup to be held in India in January.
The most notable return to the squad is for Kamala Devi. The 2017 AIFF Women's Footballer of the Year marks her return to the national team after a gap of almost three years.
India U-17 captain Shilky Devi, who turns 16 next week, has been called up for the first time. Among the other youngsters who will be eyeing a senior debut for the Blue Tigresses are midfielder Karthika Angamuthu and forward Mariyammal Balamurugan.
With big names like Ashalata Devi, Dalima Chhibber, Dangmei Grace and Indumathi Kathiresan, the Indian squad has a blend of youth and experience.
India's fixtures in the 2021 International Women's Football Tournament of Manaus
November 25: Brazil vs India
November 28: India vs Chile
December 1: India vs Venezuela
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