India picked up a hard-fought 4-3 win in the Turkish Women’s Cup on, as they withstood firmly a late charge by Estonia on Wednesday February 21, 2024.
In doing so the Indian tigresses coached by Chaoba Devi also created a piece of history. The Indian Senior Women’s team had never won against a team from the UEFA confederation in an official outing. Before this, India played Ukraine, Belarus and Romania, only to end up on the losing side.
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Thrilling Action at Gold City Sports Complex: India vs. Estonia Football Match Recap
The match was played at the beautiful Gold City Sports Complex in Alanya, Turkey and the Blue Tigresses couldn’t have asked for a better start as they took the lead in the 17th minute with the help of a Manisha Kalyan goal. Estonia draw level in the 32nd minute off a goal by Lisette Tammik, following which a raging India shot thrice in the form of Indumathi Kathiresan in the 62th minute, Pyari Xaxa in the 79th minute, and Manisha in the 81th minute again to take an assertive 4-1 lead.
Just when it seemed to appear that the Indian girls were on their to a resounding victory, Estonia scored a quick brace through Vlada Kubassova in the 88th minute and Mari Liis Lillemae in the 90th minute for a last-ditch effort. The Indian defense also did a very good work to see out rest of the regulation time and make it a remarkable win.
At the early stages of the match, India intended to hit Estonia on the counter attack with the help of their speedy wingers while letting Estonia drive deeper into the box and have possession. And this proved to be a very smart move as this played into the hands of the Blue Tigresses. In the start Karthika intercept the ball on the right that allowed Pyari to attack the space left behind by the Estonian defenders and take a shot past Estonia keeper Karina Kork but unfortunately for India it struck the crossbar and was eventually cleared by the Estonian defence.
For India Pyari often acted as the focal point of the counterattacks as she kept creating great opportunities. In the eighth minute she made a swift turn to get away from her marker at the halfway line and played a through ball to Manisha on the left with acres of space in front of her. However, Manisha scuffed her shot, which went wide.
However Manisha made amends for the chance she missed earlier, when she began a quick Indian move with a clever back-heel to Pyari, who put a through behind the Estonian defence again, but this time for Anju Tamang. Chaos erupted inside the penalty box of Estonia, as Anuj’s shot was blocked but Manisha calmly collected the ball and drove the ball in from the near post from a narrow angle.
India gave up the ball easily to Estonia after having taken the lead and had to pay the price a little after the 30th minute mark as an accurate cross sent in from the left by Vlada Kubassova was nodded in by Tammik.
India Secures Victory in Opening Turkish Cup Match Against Estonia
Chaoba Devi’s side applied pressure in the second half as they came out, imposing a mid-block, which meant that Estonia no more had control over the proceedings in the middle of the park.
And their pressure paid off as India took a lead a little after the 60th minute through Indumathi. The attack was initiated on the right by Soumya Guguloth, passed it to Anju, who squared it off to Pyari, who, in turn, teed it off for Indumathi at the edge of the penalty box.
The Indian girls started pressing harder as Soumya snatched the ball in the middle of the park and played it through to Anju on the right. However, Anju was in an off-side position so she kept herself as far away as possible from the ball. On the other hand, Pyari made an extended dash to the right-wing and got there before any of the opposition defenders. She carved into the box from the right, cut inside, and slotted her left-footed effort into the bottom corner to double India’s lead.
Manisha added her second goal of the day and the fourth for the team just a couple of minutes later when she controlled a cross Sandhiya Ranganathan, to score at the near post again.
Estonia raised a late charge to the Indian box and pulled back two goals via Vlada Kubassova and Mari Liis Lillemmae as India held on to their lead eventually, to start off their Turkish Cup with three points.
India are scheduled to play their next match against Hong Kong on Saturday, February 24. In the four-team round robin tournament Kosovo are the other team.
