In-form Indians taught a football lesson to hapless Sri Lankans in the 3rd South Asian Women’s Football Championship semifinal after thrashing them 5-0.
Indumaathi scored a brace, while top scorer of the championship Indian skipper Ngangom Bala Devi contributed a superb goal. Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) deputy director general facilities Agha Amjed Ullah graced the occasion and remained there till the final whistle.
It was a delight to watch Indian girls dictating terms right from the beginning. Backed by a strong crowd, Indians continued to pile up pressure, but failed to break the deadlock in the first 20 minutes, as Sri Lankan goalie Wijeratne produced some majestic saves to deny the opponents and kept Sri Lanka in the game. The moment finally came in the 23rd minute, when Indumaathi scored the first goal for India. Wild celebrations break out in the stands, as spectators were chanting slogans in favour of Indian team.
Indians had to wait for further nine minutes for the second goal, which was converted by prolific goal-scoring queen Ngangom, who brought her goal tally to 12. The first half ended with 2-1 in favour of India.
It was all India in the second half as they didn’t wasted time to score the much-anticipated third goal in the 48th minute, through Irom Prameshwari. Surprisingly, despite playing the entire second half in Sri Lankan half, it took Indians another 21 minutes to score the third one, which was scored by Indumaathi to complete her brace. Only four minutes later, Indians completed the rout as Ngangom was brought down in the circle and the referee had no option to point the finger at the spot. Yumnam Kamala Devi stepped forward to take the spot kick, which she duly put in the net.
It was completely changed strategy witnessed during the entire semifinal. Indians were not looking as sharp or hungry to score goals as they seemed in earlier matches. Looking at the Indians and with their inspirational injured regular captain Onam Bembem Devi is set to start the final, it would take more than a miracle for Nepal to dethrone Indians, who looked all set to take the title back to India without any significant resistance. Nepal team is capable of challenging any given opposition, but Indians are too hot to handle for the Nepalese girls. The final will be played on tomorrow (Friday) at 1:30pm.
Talking to The Nation, Indian head coach Tarun Roy, who had already predicted it would be a India-Nepal final for the third time in running, praised Sri Lanka team, but admitted they had entered the match with different planning as they didn’t want to put pressure on their players. “We want to avoid unnecessary injuries and kept girls fresh for the all-important title clash.”
In the second semifinal, Bangladesh gave Nepal a real run for their money before going down fighting 1-0. The goal was scored on plenty kick by none other than Sajana, as Nepalese captain Anu Lama was brought down by the Bangladeshi goalie, when she was about to strike the ball. The referee awarded the plenty.
It was all Bangladesh in the first 45 minutes of the match, as they could have scored at least two goals, had Nepal goalie was not at her level best, it was her superb heroics, which kept Nepal in the first half. Nepal looked under enormous pressure, even inspirational captain Anu was finding it really difficult to control the ball. From the hard tackles of Bangladeshi defenders, Anu was already carrying thigh injury and kept distance form tackles.
Had Bangladeshi team managed to take their one after another chances, they could have easily registered another upset in the event, but lack of killer instinct cost them dearly. It was completely different Nepal team in the second half. The entire half was played in Bangladeshi area, and Bangladeshi girls failed to make same impact, which they had produced in the first 45 minutes. Nepal’s pressure paid off in the 55th minute, when Anu was fouled by the diving goalie and the referee awarded the spot kick. Sajana stepped forward and put the ball in the net to give Nepal much-needed 1-0 lead. Such was the confidence of Nepalese coach that he replaced captain and top scorer Anu Lama in the 58th minute to the much of surprise of the spectators. The move was not welcomed by the crowd. Pakistani women team was also supporting Nepal team and kept on bucking Anu and especially Sajana.
Speaking after the match, Nepal head coach Kumar Katuwal admitted that they were lucky not to concede early goals and termed Bangladeshi goalkeeper responsible for not allowing Nepal forwards to score more goals. “We had two or three players including Anu Lama, who were suffering from injuries. We know Bangladeshi girls made some harsh tackles, but we wanted to safe Anu for the final that’s why I replaced her. I have full confidence in my team’s abilities and let me assure, we will not go down without a fight. We have made up in our minds that third time, we will make it lucky for Nepal and take the trophy home.”
