On Friday morning in the Arena da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, India eves lost 6-1 to hosts Brazil in the first match of the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino.
Debinha, Giovana Queiroz, Kerolin, and Geyse scored for the hosts, while Debinha, Giovana Queiroz, Kerolin, and Geyse scored for Brazil. Manisha Kalyan, a youthful forward for the visitors, scored the game’s lone goal in the eighth minute. Despite the lopsided result, the Indian eves put up a commendable effort against a top-10 women’s football team.
Highlights of the Match
Debinha scored past India goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan in only 52 seconds for the Brazilians. The Blue Tigresses, on the other hand, reacted promptly through Manisha Kalyan.
A lofted pass found Pyari Xaxa in the middle of the pitch after a swift counter-attack from India’s side. Pyari used her chest to steer the ball towards Kalyan, who dashed down the left flank. The Gokulam Kerala striker advanced with the ball unhindered and fired the ball into the net from the edge of the area.
The Brazilians, who are rated seventh in the world, replied quickly. Giovana added a second goal for the hosts in the 36th minute to regain their lead. The two sides went into the halftime break with a 2-1 score in favor of Brazil.
In the second half, Brazil scored the third and fourth goals in rapid succession (52′ and 54′) in a two-minute interval to open the floodgates. In the 76th and 81st minutes, the Selecao scored the fifth and sixth goals, respectively, to seal the victory over Thomas Dennerby’s girls.
Future of the Team
The match also marked the retirement of great Brazilian player Formiga. Formiga, a great in women’s football, played in seven World Cups and seven Olympics for Brazil before retiring after a stellar 26-year career with this victory over India.
This success against a past world champion can give the Indian women’s team a lot of confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup. To put the quality gap between the two sides in perspective, India is ranked 57th in the world, while Brazil is ranked seventh.
The fact that India scored a goal against this Brazil team is a positive in and of itself, and Dennerby’s players can be proud of their first-half performance, in which they took the battle to Brazil. Only in the second half did Brazil’s superiority over the Indians become apparent. On November 28, India will play Chile in their second encounter, while Brazil will play Venezuela on the same day.
Read: How to watch the Indian Women’s football team’s matches in Brazil LIVE from India?
