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Ashalata Devi is about to achieve a new milestone in her career. The Indian Women’s football team captain will play her 100th international match when India will Pakistan in the opening match SA FF Championship 2024. The women’s footballer from Manipur made her debut for India in a match against Bangladesh in Dhaka in March, 2011. Ahead of the historic match against Pakistan, Ashalata Devi shared her gratitude on reaching the major milestone.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) also acknowledged Ashalata Devi on reaching a major milestone in her career for the Indian women’s football team. "When she pulled on an Indian shirt for the first time ... in the pre-Olympics in Dhaka against Bangladesh in March 2011, few would have imagined that Ashalata Devi would take Indian women’s football by storm in quite the way she has," the AIFF said as quoted by PTI.
It’s difficult to put this feeling into words: Ashalata Devi on playing 100 matches for India
Ashalata Devi expressed her happiness ahead of her 100th game for India. She said “Since I started playing, I have always enjoyed playing football and I just wanted to keep representing the nation. I never set a dream that I wanted to get 100 or 200 caps. That was not on my mind. But I’ve been very excited in the last few matches that I’m about to play my 100th one.
“I think some pressure is always there ahead of big games and big tournaments. I’ve always accepted that we should feel the pressure. Because the more we feel it, the more the opponents also feel it. I have to perform, and I have to remain calm and focus on my game. We had a setback in the previous SAFF Championship, so we want to right those wrongs,” Ashalata Devi further said.
