KOCHI: Grace Dangmei has been retained as the captain of Gokulam Kerala FC Women’s team for the AFC Women’s Club Championship. Gokulam, who missed the tournament last year due to the suspension of AIFF, will face defending champions Urawa Red Diamond Ladies in their opener on Monday.
“Urawa pose the biggest threat to Gokulam in the Championship, and they are the side to beat. We were not able to compete last year due to some unfortunate incidents. This time we are confident to put up a good show,” said Gokulam head coach Anthony Andrews.
Gokulam women, consisting of 23 members including five national team players, four foreigners, and four players from Kerala, arrived in Chonburi on Saturday. Gokulam's goalkeeper, Beatrice Ntiwaa Nketia, hails from Ghana, while defender Phoebe Okech Owiti is from Kenya. The team's forward line is led by Hajar Dabbaghi from Iran and Veronica Appiah from Ghana.
“We have made some good signings this year including the Iranian forward Hajar Dabbaghi who is expected to make a huge impact for Gokulam in the coming months. She has been with us for more than 20 days and has been impressive so far,” Andrews added. "The approach will be to take it one match at a time and see how far we can go," he said.
Gokulam women’s squad: Goalkeeper: Beatrice Ntiwaa Nketia, Sowmiya Narayanasami, Payale Basudel; Defenders: Alexiba Palliparambil, Manju Baby, Dhurga Perumal, Kritina Devi, Phoeby Okech Owiti, Roja Devi, Reshma Chandran; Midfielders: Grace Dangmei (Captain), Shubanghi Singh, Baby Lalcchandami, Musken Subba, Shilky Devi, Priyadharshini Selladurai; Forwards: Sandhya Ranganathan, Veronica Appiah, Hajar Dabbaghi, Dharshini Devi, Manasa Kunnathu, Soumya Guguloth, Sumati Kumari
