India Vs Mongolia, AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers Preview: Blue Tigresses Eye Fresh Start After 2022 Setback

More than three years after a COVID outbreak in the team derailed their campaign in the last AFC Women's Asian Cup, India will make a fresh bid for a place in the continental showpiece, with Mongolia being their first test in the Qualifiers in Chiang Mai on Monday.

The upcoming edition of the premier tournament will be held in Australia next year.

It wouldn't be wrong to says that the continent's top competition has been somewhat ill-fated for the Blue Tigresses in the last few decades.

India last made it to the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2003. And when they hosted the tournament in 2022, a COVID outbreak in the side meant that India had to withdraw after only the first game and the results were declared void.

While India do have three podium finishes in the erstwhile Asian Women's Championship (runners-up in 1980 and 1983, and third place in 1981), they have not achieved anything for more than 40 years.

Besides the opener against Mongolia, India (ranked 70th) will face Timor Leste (ranked 158th) on June 29, Iraq (ranked 173rd) on July 2 and hosts Thailand (ranked 46th) on July 5, at the Chiang Mai Stadium.

Only the group winners will qualify for the final tournament in Australia in March 2026, which will also serve as a qualifier for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027.

Apart from Thailand, India have never faced the other three Group B opponents before.

"We don't have much information about Mongolia, Timor Leste and Iraq. They haven't played any matches recently. We do know a bit about Thailand. They played two games against Nepal in the last window, and one of them was closed doors," said head coach Crispin Chettri.

"I tried different variations in our friendlies (against Uzbekistan). I tested many combinations in midfield, involving Sangita (Basfore), Karthika (Angamuthu), Ratanbala (Nongmaithem), Grace (Dangmei) and Anju (Tamang)."

While India lost both friendlies 0-1 against Uzbekistan on May 30 and June 3, it was significant preparation for the all-important qualifiers.

The Blue Tigresses, who had trained in Bengaluru since the start of May, travelled to Chiang Mai a week before the first game, and have had four full training sessions so far, including an intra-squad match.

"I think coming to Chiang Mai earlier has helped us to acclimatise to the weather conditions and adjust to time difference. The weather here is more humid than in Bengaluru. The training ground is great and we're shaping up well for the forthcoming matches. We also played a full 90-minute match among ourselves on Thursday," said Chettri.

With an average age of 23.6 years, Chettri has named a fairly young squad consisting of a lot of newcomers. But that's not to say there's a dearth of experience.

For a Malavika, there's a Dangmei Grace, for a Priyadharshini, there's an Anju Tamang, for a Phanjoubam Nirmala Devi, there's a Ngangbam Sweety Devi.

"We have a very good mix of youth and experience. We had 18-year-old goalkeeper Monalisha (Moirangthem) debut against Uzbekistan. I'm not scared to play with youngsters because this is how they are going to gain experience. And playing such important AFC matches will help us grow," said Chettri.

"Staying and working together for more than 45 days has done a great deal of good for their chemistry, and now what matters is executing it on the pitch. The focus on the training pitch has shifted more to tactical details."