The Indian eves winning the 2016 SAFF Women’s Championship on Wednesday has been a reiteration of the successful footfall Indian women’s football has in the South Asian region. It has also given a meaningful start to what promises to be a good year for women’s football that is looking at avenues for its furtherance and development.
Scroll.in got to speak to Sajid Dar, head coach of the Indian national women’s football team, right after their fourth consecutive win the tournament. Here are the excerpts:
How would you evaluate the team after their 2016 SAFF Women’s Championship win?
There is no doubt that we have good potential when it comes to women’s football. We have already seen what our players are capable of. They won the South Asian Games in the month of March and now this is our second title this year. Before that I have witnessed these girls playing at the national games, so from my point of view there is a tremendous amount of talent in the country and women’s football, I think, is developing and growing day-by-day.
When we compare our women’s football with our other neighbouring countries, we are far, far better than them. There are so many things that are going well and our women’s football is on the right path now. Our ranking was 57, now it has improved to 54. There’s no doubt that if we work like we have been working for the last six-seven months it can be improved and it can be better than where we are now in the Fifa rankings.
But when we compete with some big names in Asia, so there we need some more development and time so that our girls can perform equally well. So, right now, we will need to see how we will progress from here. Because we will now be playing the AFC qualifiers which, I think, will be in the month of April. So performance and development will not come in a single day’s time. We need to set some plans for it and we need to work accordingly so that we can give them a better platform so that they can give a wonderful performance in the AFC qualifiers. And that is our main aim. It is not only the SAFF region, we want to improve within Asia as well. This time, however, the add-on factor is we have played some tournaments. Our girls have showed their character in both the tournaments.
How necessary is playing more preparatory events?
[Playing more number of tournaments] is not only about the players. It is for everyone. It is like an examination when you are entering the study hall. If you are not appearing for examinations, you cannot analyse your performances. Same goes for coaching and the players as well. So if you are not playing and performing against stronger opponents, you cannot analyse yourself and where you stand.
We have a strong team core currently. How has it helped in the team’s performances?
The current team we have, we have some experienced players and we have included some young talent as well. I always believe when you have some good experienced players in your team, it definitely helps the other players. Because they are leading from the front. And that is what Aditi [Chauhan] and [Ngangom] Bala [Devi] are capably doing. So definitely they are very good help for the squad and their experiences are helping the other players grow. Plus, the other players are always guiding the youngsters. But it is not one or two players, it is the team effort that is getting the results.
What do you make of the perception of women’s football in India?
If you are doing something and the people are not aware of it, then we are lagging somewhere. We played the South Asian Games in Shillong and it was tremendous to watch the fans coming and supporting India’s team. Same goes for Siliguri also. Fans come to watch these players and see how well they are playing and supported us like anything. But it is not about Bengal or Shillong or North East. We need to spread this message all over the country.
If awareness and knowledgeable reception has to be created about women’s football, what should be the first area of focus?
State associations, therefore, have a very important role to play in the development of women’s football. The AIFF has already given the state associations some directions regarding what needs to be done and some states have already started working on it. But other states also need to come forward and support this cause.
We need to put some extra efforts to help the game grow in each and every state of the country. Then we can say that women’s football in India is progressing at a faster pace. We saw the Pondicherry team that played in the I-League preliminary rounds. Earlier, we were not knowing that Pondicherry had that much talent in football. So when they came for participation, there were three players who got a chance to play for the national team. I believe talent is there in the states. The only thing is states should think over women’s football and help the AIFF to grow women’s football in the country.
What have been the AIFF’s efforts in promoting women’s football in the country?
The AIFF has started a lot of initiatives for women’s football and has planned more. The women’s I-League will start in February. These girls will be taking part in that competition and we will be keeping an eye [and see] if we could get some more girls out of it. Soon after that we will be planning to have our camp which will lead us to the AFC qualifiers’ preparation. So that is actually a plan right now for how we will progress before going to the AFC qualifiers.
The women’s I-League looks to be having a good depth of indigenous talent? Will we also get to see overseas players in the women’s I-League?
Right now, we are focused on the domestic players. But definitely we have seen overseas players who are keenly following Indian football and, I believe, if all goes well, like we have players coming to participate in men’s I-League, they will get attracted and want to be a part of women’s I-League as well. So this is a very good initiative right now. It is too early to comment right now, but if everything goes and this tournament gets fame, then overseas players they would definitely be a part of this I-League.
Could you give us an idea about how the format and scheduling of the women’s I-League will be?
Right now, I have only gone through the preliminary rounds. Since the fixtures are not out, I cannot comment on that.
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