Kolkata: India's preparation for the AFC Women's Asian Cup had too many matches and sometimes too few support staff, according to a report by Amelia Valverde, the head coach of the Indian women's national team. The report also stated that practice matches were against teams that were not similar to the ones India were drawn to play.
India were eliminated from the tournament after losing all three group stage matches, including a 0-11 defeat to Japan, who went on to win the championship. The team also lost to Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.
Valverde's report recommended that the team should prepare in environments as similar as possible to those in which they will compete, against national teams, in stadiums, and against opponents similar to those they will face.
India trained in Turkiye and Perth, but the report stated that the team did not have enough time to train due to the number of matches they played. The team also played seven friendlies against clubs from Europe, but these matches were not at a high enough level to prepare the team for the tournament.
Valverde also recommended that the team should have a sports psychology professional to work with the players, as well as a longer club season and utilizing all FIFA windows against national teams and not clubs.
