AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Why India beating Vietnam is crucial for FIFA World Cup qualification hopes

The other two sides in India’s group are the mighty Japan, ranked sixth, and Chinese Taipei who are ranked 40th. They face each other in the first match of the day on Wednesday in Perth.

The Asian Cup holds value as it will be the last time the tournament can be used to qualify for the Women’s FIFA World Cup. At the Asian Cup, the group winners, runners-up and two best third-place teams will go into the knockouts. At the knockouts, the four quarterfinal winners will head to the 2027 Women’s FIFA World Cup. The four quarterfinal losers will compete to determine two Asian teams that will be part of continental playoffs. A total of six Asian teams will be a part of the World Cup.

And so the odds are stacked against India but that is something that most of these players have been used to. They all have had to overcome barriers of many kinds to make it this far and once here, they have had to deal with the myriad ways in which the All-India Football Federation worked in preparing them for the tournament, which ranged from falling well short of delivering the domestic and international match time that it had promised in the days after the team sealed their historic qualification to failing to provide proper kits for the tournament itself.

What India did manage to do, though, was get enough time to acclimatise to the city, having arrived on February 11. “The preparations have been very good so far. We have been here for the last three weeks, which has been very helpful for the team,” coach Amelia Valverde said on the eve of the match. “We know our responsibilities, and that is to put the best version of ourselves on the pitch.”

Indian women’s football head coach Amelia Valverde. (PHOTO: AIFF)

While they may not have had the “10-12 international friendlies” that the AIFF had promised in the aftermath of sealing qualification, India have still had a fairly long preparatory camp in Turkey. It is doubtful if Valverde has had enough time to impose her style on the team, having taken over with just two months to go for the tournament. However, former head coach Crispin Chetri and a number of other key members of his staff staying may have helped in maintaining continuity within the squad.

Defensive stalwart Ashalata Devi was left out of the squad and it is Sweety Devi who takes over in her place, both in defence and as captain of the team. Aveka Singh and Manisha Kalyan both ply their trade abroad. They, along with Sangita Basfore, scorer of the goal that sealed India’s qualification, could be crucial in providing whatever creativity the team could muster against Vietnam and in the next two games that they play as well.

In Vietnam, India faces a team on the rise. Their quarterfinal in the last edition was followed by a victory against Thailand in the playoff, which resulted in them qualifying form the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history. They are coached by the legendary Mai Duc Chung, who has pretty much shaped women’s football in the country since 1997. He had initially announced his retirement last year but then extended his contract to see the team through to the end of the Women’s Asian Cup.

India’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group C matches:

• vs Vietnam, Perth Rectangular Stadium, March 4
• vs Japan, Perth Rectangular Stadium, March 7
• vs Chinese Taipei, Western Sydney Stadium, March 10