The Indian ladies’s staff was on Thursday drawn in a tricky group together with Japan, Vietnam and host Uzbekistan within the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 to be performed between October 23 and November 1.
India certified for Round 2 with wins over Kyrgyz Republic, 5-0 and 4-0, in a two-legged play-off earlier this 12 months.
The Blue Tigresses are the bottom ranked staff in Group C at 61, whereas 2012 Olympics silver medallist Japan, ranked 11 on the earth, is essentially the most formidable aspect.
Vietnam, which is able to make its debut on the FIFA Women’s World Cup later this 12 months, and host Uzbekistan are at 33 and 50 respectively within the FIFA chart.
In the lead-up to the Round 1 qualifiers towards Kyrgyz Republic, India additionally performed towards Uzbekistan in a one-off pleasant, dropping 2-3 after an injury-time objective.
India has suffered slim one objective losses on the three earlier events it has performed Uzbekistan. India final confronted Vietnam in a pleasant in Hanoi in 2019, drawing 1-1, whereas the final assembly with Japan got here within the 1997 Asian Women’s Championship, with India taking place 0-1.
Four groups, the three group winners and the best-ranked runners-up, will progress to Round 3 to play two pairs of dwelling and away matches, slated for February 24 and 28 subsequent 12 months.
The winners will take the 2 spots reserved for Asia within the ladies’s soccer occasion in 2024 Olympics.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com