After thrashing Sri Lanka, the Indian women's football team will face a test of credentials when they take on an equally in-form Nepal in the 12th South Asian Games here tomorrow.
Nepal are yet to concede a goal in the ongoing championship and sit atop after grabbing maximum points out of two matches courtesy a 2-0 win over Maldives and then, a 3-0 win over Bangladesh.
However, it will also be a litmus test for the Nepalese attack force when they face a compact Indian defence line, which has allowed only one shot at the Indian goal in over 180 minutes.
"Nepal are one of the strongest Teams in the Tournament and we respect our opponents as we they possess the necessary weapons to hurt us," India's head coach Sajid Dar said.
"We need to be focused and concentrate on the task at hand. An early goal will make things fluid for us. However, we are not expecting an easy clash against Nepal. "Nepal's results in the (South Asian) Games speak for themselves and it will be our toughest match in the Championship," he added.
On the mood inside the camp after a sterling 5-0 win over Sri Lanka and Bembem Devi said, "It was a deserving win but we should not get carried away with the result. There are still two matches to be played and we have to give our all in the remaining fixtures."
"There is always room for improvement in Football and the win over Sri Lanka gives us a boost in our morale after the draw against Maldives. We hope to capitalise and build on the win."
Though the Indian attack has been able to dominate in the two matches so far, defender Manisa Panna believes that the match against Nepal will be even and anybody can emerge victors.
"It does not matter what the statistics are. Football is seldom played on statistics. Tomorrow will be a new day and both the Teams are capable enough to beat the other," Manisa maintained. "All we have to do is give our cent percent on the pitch and hopefully grab a positive result.
