Need to keep playing more against high-ranking teams to continue improving: Indian women's team forward Pyari Xaxa 

While the coverage might not justify the gravity of the achievement, Pyari Xaxa's goal against the United States Women's Under-23 team was a statement in itself.

The Odisha-born forward opened the scoring for the Blue Tigresses in their final game of the Women's Under-23 3-Nations tournament.

Latching on to a long ball from Manisha Kalyan, Pyari, in the eighth minute of the match, substantiating her nickname "Ferrari", darted into the opposition box.

The 25-year-old then composed herself and thumped the ball into the far post from an acute angle. Scoring against some of the top talents from the No.1-ranked women's team in the world was no mean feat.

The 2015 'Emerging Women's Footballer of the Year' came into the game determined to pounce on the first opportunity to score. In an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Pyari revealed her mindset ahead of the match. The Indian forward disclosed:

"Back in my hotel room, I had set up my mind that whenever I would get an opportunity, I would try to finish it right away. I knew if we could score early, it would lift the pressure off the team against players from the No.1 ranked side in the world."

The women's footballing calendar in the country has especially been a topic of concern. With the Indian Women's League (IWL) running for just over a month and the senior national team scarcely playing international matches, the need for a structured season has been the need of the hour.

Pyari explained that playing against such high-ranked teams gives the national side some much-needed exposure. Should the Blue Tigresses be playing more such matches against top quality sides? The Odisha Sports striker answered:

"Definitely yes. We learned a lot from playing against Sweden and the USA. The women's team is already improving and if we continue to play against high-ranking teams like these, we will see a lot more improvement. We are playing at a high level and it feels great. But India can do even better."

However, Pyari lauded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for setting up friendlies against the likes of Brazil, USA U-23 and Sweden U-23 side.

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Pyari Xaxa wants to do everything in her power to be of a "little help to the Indian national team"

In the recently concluded IWL season, Odisha Sports finished fifth in the standings. Pyari bagged 12 goals in 11 appearances for the Bhubaneswar-based club. However, the national team striker wasn't content with her performances. She admitted during the interaction with Sportskeeda:

"In my opinion, I haven't had my best IWL season in 2022 but next year, I am going to try to do better and score as many goals as I can."

Not being satisfied with scoring more than one goal per game is a testament to Pyari's hunger.

Born in Jhartarang, a village in the Sundargarh District of Odisha, the former Rising Student Club had the ambition to represent India from the very beginning. How did the infatuation start? Pyari replied:

"When I was younger, I went to play a district-level match and saw a player from the Indian national women's team. From then on, my target was fixed, I had to represent the country. Whatever happened, I had to represent India in football. It feels great to play for the country now. I'll try to give my best till I keep on playing and do everything in my power to even be of a little help to the Indian national team."

At only 25, Pyari has already done more than a "little" to help the national side and she will only keep growing and improving.

However, her humility and hunger to strive forward has already transformed her into an ideal role model for the upcoming generations.