Indian Women Football Team To Make It Through Before The Men
The same old story
A nation predominantly obsessed with cricket mania is in a transition. The inclination towards other sports and their respective legends are getting their due share of respect. Football is the most popular sport across the globe, but in India, it’s coming of age for the last few years. Indian football fans have to rely on European action as they consider indigenous talent to be quite unskilled. The fact is that Indian football is extremely underrated, players with flair and dexterity are out of sight due to lack of media attention on football. Now, when it comes to women, sports is stereotyped for males, primarily in India. Due to this harsh reality, women football in India faced numerous such hindrances from various elements, but now with the turn of tides, girl prowess is traversing an upward graph. Indian women football team seems to have finally arrived!
Current Scenario
The Blue Tigers have a global ranking of 104 out of 210 nations. On the other hand, tigresses rank way ahead at 55 out of 159. Now, the surprising element is that despite less attention and support “she” is ahead of the “he”. Well, great news for the feminists out there. But, hey, we were talking sports. Coming back to the point, there has been a recent stir in events pertaining to women’s football. There has been a camp organised for Indian women football team. India’s Sports Minister addressed and encouraged girls to bring glory for the nation. The AIFF chief Praful Patel has laid down a well-structured roadmap which will help the girls to ace the 2027 mega event.
A ray of hope
If we talk about the recent performances of the Indian Women Football Team, it has been impressive. Indian contingent travelled to Spain, where they had a feisty outing. India hammered Mauritania and Bolivia. Although, they failed against the likes of U-19 Spain and Valencia. Despite the two defeats, India managed to make a podium finish. Apart from that, acing the SAFF cup, getting into 2nd round of Olympic qualifiers and Hero Gold performances do count in. Indian women football team coach Maymol Rocky suggests hay days are not far away.
Future endeavours
India was hosting the U-17 2020 FIFA Women World Cup, but due to Covid-19 pandemic, it has been deferred to 2022. Many of the Indian players won’t be eligible to play then, due to the age bar. Despite this fact, there are various tournaments for them to showcase their talent. Well, hope is the sole reason many of us thrive amidst the cruelty and hardships. Let’s hope a ray of bright sunshine drives away the dark clouds hovering over football’s future in the country. We, as fans also have to contribute if we want to see the female stalwarts to steal the show at the global arena. Till then Cheer for the Women in Blue!
