Chilly winds and rain greeted the India U-19 Women’s national team as they landed in Amman on Monday afternoon. Besides hosts Jordan, India have been clubbed with Uzbekistan and Lebanon in Group A with India beginning their campaign against Uzbekistan on November 5. As per AFC regulations, only the group topper move onto the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Finals to be played in 2015 in China.
The Indian squad was given a day’s rest as they checked into the hotel. The first practice session is slated for today. In the absence of a direct flight, the squad was forced to change flights from Ahmedabad to Mumbai to Bahrain from where they arrived in Amman.
Head coach Priya PV informed that the biggest challenge would be “acclimatize fast to the weather conditions.”
“The mercury has dipped to almost 15 degrees and chances stay it may get colder as we progress into the tournament. The untimely rain has come as a big challenge,” Priya told AIFF Media.
Even as the weather forecast informs you that it would be sunny in the coming days, the locals, nevertheless, even went to the extent of saying that “it may snow in the next seven days.”
“It doesn’t rain at this time of the year. But when it does, it is normally followed by snowfall,” an official from the Jordan Football Association quipped. Even as the Indian team drove from the Airport to the team hotel, portions of waterlogged streets suggested that it has been raining in Amman for long.
(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)