India eves to open SAFF campaign against Afghanistan (Preview)

India women's football team will look to continue their SAFF Championship dominance when they open their campaign against Afghanistan in a Group B encounter at the Kanchenjunga Stadium here on Tuesday.

"We are well prepared and girls are raring to give it a go tomorrow", coach Sajid Dar told www.the-aiff.com on the eve of the game.

"We need all three points tomorrow to kick off our campaign in the best possible way. Yes, it's true that we have enormous respect for them but that won't deter us from trying to clinch a win tomorrow," the coach added.

A good number of Afghan girls play in the US and Europe, especially Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

"I have heard about it and definitely, this Afghanistan outfit will be a hard nut to crack. We have our own strategies and we'll try to execute them on the field," Dar said.

Dar informed that the squad is completely fit.

"The girls are in proper shape and all of them deserve to start tomorrow. Now, they need to grab the opportunity with both hands and prove their worth on the field", he stated.

Incidentally, Afghanistan are not a part of the South Asian Football Federation zone anymore as they joined the Central Asian Zone earlier this year.

They were invited to compete in this edition of the SAFF Cup and were clubbed with hosts India and Bangladesh in group B.

--IANS

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