Maymol Rocky’s focus is on Monday’s match and she is hoping the same kind of seriousness from the Indian players. (Source: Indian Football Team Twitter)
Indian women’s football team are geared up for a good show against hosts Malaysia in an international friendly which will be played on Monday. This will be Maymol Rocky’s debut match as India’s coach. The first female coach of India’s senior women’s football team, Maymol is a huge fan of strict discipline. “We have introduced fines in this camp. Whenever someone commits any mistake, she is fined,” said Maymol.
“Imparting discipline within the squad stayed a priority. Unless you get the pinch, you never learn,” she added. The girls are perfectly fine with it as they know ‘it’s for a cause.'”
Defender Dalima Chhibber, a former captain of India U-19 said, “It unites us. The team bonding has become better. It makes you more disciplined. It is fun, but at the same time, it pinches your pocket. It’s up to us to avoid the fines.”
Maymol’s focus is on Monday’s match and she is hoping the same kind of seriousness from the players when they face Malaysia in their own backyard.
“We won’t be taking them lightly. They are a strong side. Once you are complacent, you will pay the price, they are playing at home. It is a big stadium. It’s advantage Malaysia,” said Maymol.
Maymol’s squad includes youngsters as well as some experienced players. “Around 10 players have come up the ranks through the age groups. The average age of the side has gone down considerably. Barring around three, all the rest are below 25,” she said.
Maymol’s concern has never been the FIFA rankings and she is confident of her team to put up a good show against Malaysia. “Not that we are a weak team. But I never go into FIFA Rankings. We are aware of the development made by Malaysia. But we are confident as a team,” she said.
Expressing her views about India captain Bala Devi, Maymol said, “She has a habit of scoring goals in almost every match.” On the other hand, captain Bala Devi is not concerned as to who scores as long as someone scores.
“It’s not about who scores as long as we score. We have specific roles assigned to us and we need to execute it to perfection.”, captain Devi said.
The match will begin at 6:15 pm IST.
