Royal Thimphu College Women’s Football Club, RTC WFC will play Iran’s Bam Khatoon and Hong Kong China’s Kitchee to represent Bhutan in the first edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League. The preliminary round for Asia’s top-tier women’s football club competition will be held at the Changlimithang Stadium from the 25th to the 31st of August. The three women’s teams will fight for a spot in the group stage.
The AFC Women’s Champions League, in its inaugural edition, will feature 21 participating associations, including Bhutan.
RTC WFC has been training for the league since the beginning of this month.
“Last year we were the champions of the women’s league but till now we have only seen boys going for AFC from Bhutan. The fact that girls are going for the AFC is somewhat like an unexpected gift. We didn’t think that we would be going for it,” said Kinzang Dema, RTC WFC player.
As much as it is an exciting piece of news, it is also an added pressure for the players. Playing for the AFC means competing against players from two different countries, representing not just RTC Women’s Football Club but Bhutan as a whole.
The players have only been competing with teams from within the country until now. At 38th, Bhutan is currently ranked second to last of the AFC member associate’s list.
The team has also recruited four new players from Bangladesh to aid them in their upcoming matches.
“First one week we focused on fitness and from second week we played with other clubs. We have four players from Bangladesh. From yesterday, we started training to focus more on teamwork,” said Suk Maya Ghalley, Footballer, RTC WFC.
“The winner among the three teams will have the opportunity to advance to the group stage later on. That’s why, despite the unpredictable weather we are preparing our best. Our RTC team is strong, and to make it even stronger, we have brought in four players from Bangladesh,” said Jigme, a coach at RTC WFC.
The winning team of the preliminary round also takes the USD 100,000 cash prize which is roughly over Nu 8 M.
Despite their worries of competing against international opponents of a new level, the team is in good spirit and positive about winning the qualifiers.
Tenzin Loday Gyeltshen/Pema Tshomo
Edited by Phub Gyem
