Gombau said that he was eager to build a competitive men team alongside the newly created women team. He exhorted Odisha football fans to follow and support both the men and women teams of Odisha FC. "A team without fans is not a team," said Gombau.

Odisha FC would kickstart their season 2022-23 campaign with their men team taking part in the Durand Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Kolkata, Guwahati and Imphal from August 16 to September 18.

JULI KISHAN BECOMES LATEST OFCW RECRUIT: Odisha FC announced on August 13 that they have further strengthened the defense department of their Women Team by signing homegrown defender Juli Kishan.

Juli has had a quick and steady rise in her short career, despite only starting to play the game as recently as 2016. Born and brought up in Rourkela, Juli began her career at Young Association Club in Kuarmunda. She was spotted by Odisha sports department coach and ex-India international Gitanjali Khuntia at a U-19 Odisha State team camp.

She has represented the Odisha State team at the U-19 and Senior Nationals, which got her a job with Odisha Police. At the club level, she represented Rising Student Club, with whom she won the Odisha Women League, before moving to Odisha Police to win her second OWL in 2022. Her first taste of the Indian Women League came as part of the Sports Odisha team which finished fourth in the IWL 2021-22 season.

SHREYA SIGNED IN AS WOMEN TEAM GOALKEEPER: Earlier on 7 August 2022, Odisha FC announced that it had signed Indian National Women team goalkeeper, Shreya Hooda, to provide solidity to the spine of their squad.

Shreya, who hails from Sonipat in Haryana, started playing football when she was 13. She has the reputation of representing India in the Under-14 and Under-16 categories as a goalkeeper, before making her Senior Women national team debut in 2021.

Her biggest inspiration is her father. More recently, Shreya was part of the team that won the IWL with Gokulam Kerala FC, with whom she also participated in the AFC Women Club Championship.

She was the winner of Khelo India Under-21 with Haryana. With the experience of three IWLs behind her and playing time with Kolhapur FC and Hans FC, Shreya will be donning the No 1 jersey for the Juggernauts in the upcoming season.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTOS: Odisha FC players pose with their kits for the season 2022-23 in Bhubanesdwar on 12 August 2022.