The Indian women’s football team has been drawn in Group A of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022, alongside eight-time champions China, two-time winners Chinese Taipei and Iran. The draw ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, October 28.

The AFC Women’s Asia Cup 2022 will be held in India between January 20 to February 6, 2022.

“It is an exciting group. We respect all our opponents as all of them are strong teams who have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup India 2022. But we are ready to play any team,” Indian women’s team coach Thomas Dennerby stated moments after the draw.

“I don’t consider any particular match as a key one. All three matches are key matches for us in the group stage. We need to do our job over 90 minutes every time we enter the field,” the coach maintained.

Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the draw ceremony, AIFF President Mr Praful Patel averred: “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup is the premier flagship tournament for Women’s Football in our continent, and I’m proud and happy that India is going to be the host for the 2022 edition. I thank the AFC, AIFF and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for jointly working together to bring a fantastic tournament not only for the fans in India but also for all of the Asian continent.”

“The AFC had recently come and inspected all the facilities in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune. We are looking forward to January 2022 to welcome all the 12 teams to our beautiful country, and I am confident they will be satisfied with the facilities, and hospitality that we have to offer in India,” he expressed.

The Indian women’s team is currently camping in Jamshedpur since September. In the midst of the camp, the team had also gone on an exposure tour to UAE, Bahrain and Sweden, where they played against International teams like UAE, Tunisia, Bahrain and Chinese Taipei. The side has also played two friendlies against Swedish Dammalsvenskan (Tier 1) clubs Hammarby IF and Djurgarden IF.

Featured photo: Indian Football Team / Twitter