Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, speaking the morning after being named as the Fifa Best women’s coach of 2021, had a different viewpoint, saying: “It happens in the men’s game too and we have to get on with it.
“Coaches have the chance to exercise their thoughts in the planning of that [the WSL schedule] in the year prior and we have to get on with football. I can have an opinion about scheduling but I’m not in charge of that, I’m in charge of managing a team. These are the games that we have in this period and I’m just focusing on making sure we’re ready for them.
“Of course we’ll be watching our players, we’re proud of them, we miss them as they do us, but we’ve got a quality group of players here who are ready for whatever we have to face in this period.”
West Ham’s Yui Hasegawa and Arsenal’s Mana Iwabuchi will be among the best-known names involved for the 2011 World Cup winners Japan, who have been named as the bookmakers’ favourites to defend the title they won in Jordan in 2018. The Japan squad also includes Bayern Munich’s Saki Kumagai and forward Jun Endo, who was recently signed by new Los Angeles-based NWSL club Angel City.
When and where does the tournament take place?
The competition kicks off with China meeting Chinese Taipei in Mumbai at 3.30pm Indian Standard time on Thursday [10am GMT], before hosts India face Iran four hours later. Those teams are in Group A.
That means Tottenham’s Tang Jiali of China could be the first WSL player to feature in the event, in the tournament opener itself.
Australia, featuring no fewer than 10 WSL players, will get their Group B campaign up and running against Indonesia on Friday, on the same day that Japan’s Group C matches begin with them taking on Myanmar.
There are three groups of four teams, and the top two sides from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, along with the two best third-placed teams. The knockout phase will begin on January 30, on the road to the final, at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi, Mumbai, on February 6.
How can I watch it in the UK?
The broadcast rights for the Women’s Asia Cup in the UK are held by FreeSports (Freeview channel 64, Sky channel 422) and online.
