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New Delhi [India], July 31 (ANI): Indian women’s football team skipper Sweety Devi said that playing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup for the first time ever will be a ‘tough challenge’ for the team, but they feel ready for them, with a number of friendly matches lined up ahead of the competition taking place from March next year.

With a 2-1 win over Thailand at the Chiang Mai Stadium on July 5, the Indian women’s football team made history, securing their first-ever qualification to the continental competition.

The Indian women’s football team will face a tough challenge in the upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia as they have been put in Group C with Japan, Vietnam, and Chinese Taipei, and captain Sweety Devi emphasised the need to do well in friendlies in order to prepare well for the tournament.

The Blue Tigresses will begin their Women’s Asian Cup in Group C with a match against Vietnam on March 4, 2026. They will then face Japan on March 7 and Chinese Taipei on March 10.

‘The tournament will be a tough challenge for us, but we are ready for it. We will play many friendlies till March next year, and will aim to do well in those matches. It is very important to keep the momentum going,’ Sweety said during the launch of Zinc Football Girls Academy in Zawar near Udaipur.

Speaking on the opportunity to lead India, Sweety said that she feels lucky for that.

‘I will continue to do well for India and work towards our ultimate aim, which is to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. I am sure that we can do it and have to keep working hard to achieve this milestone,’ she concluded.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) will lend technical and strategic support to the academy, with the aim of developing women’s football.

Zinc Football is a one-of-its-kind grassroots football development initiative, at the core of which is a full-fledged residential girls’ football academy with world-class facilities and the country’s first-ever ‘technology-hinged football training’ – the unique F-Cube technology.

The initiative aims to contribute to the development of Indian football while leveraging on the power of the world’s most loved sport to impact lives and ensure social upliftment of women, children and people.

Hindustan Zinc’s academy will have an initial batch of 20 girls from different states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Haryana and Jharkhand. (ANI)