For the first time in the SAG´s history, women´s football is included in the event scheduled from January 29 to February 9, 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
At a time when the national team and all age group teams have failed to put up an impressive show in the international arena, these young girls are optimistic about raising the national flag high in Dhaka.
“Only India is better, if we defeat them, we will win the gold,” team manager Bimala Poudel, a former national player, said. These 30 players were short-listed from a pool of 85 players picked from across the country through selection in all the five development regions.
“The final squad may have fewer players once we know the number of squad,” Poudel said. Seventeen players are from the Armed Police Force (APF), while there are players representing Jhapa, PLA Club, Rautahat, Morang, Chitwan, Syangja, Kailali and Banke.
Revealing the reason behind the dominating number of players from the APF, Jamuna Gurung, 23, the skipper of the APF said: “APF is the only departmental team which has women´s football team and we train throughout the year.”
Jamuna, who started playing at 12 said, “I used to play with balls made of socks and even with boys.” Many in the APF team share similar stories.
She competed first for the U-14 national team selection event and developed a fascination for the game since. She joined the APF only last year.
The APF women´s team consists of players aged between 16 to 25 years. “Our aim is to win the gold,” Jamuna said. “And, it´s possible because we are training hard.”
Head coach Dhruba KC is also satisfied with the team´s training. “The training is going on smoothly,” he said. “India might be the toughest opponent for us. However, every team is new and we will not take any of them lightly.”
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