India 14 (Pyari Saksa 7′, 18, 15′, Linda Kom Selto 12′, 21′, 29′, 52′, Neha 16′, 45′, Kajol D’Souza 59′, 66′, Sangita Basfore 51′, Sorokaivam Ranjanachanu 54′, Rinpa Haldar 62 minutes)
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Maldives 0
Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team
BENGALURU: India’s newly-appointed Swedish coach Joakim Alexandersson capped off the year with Blue Tigres impressively crushing the Maldives and winning 14-0 at the Padukone Dravid Center for Sports Excellence. After that, I started my journey in a satisfying way. Monday, December 30, 2024.
This was the first of two scheduled friendly matches against the Maldives. The second event will be held on January 2, 2025 at the same venue. India were leading 8-0 at half-time.
Alexandersson gave debuts to as many as eight players, three of whom excelled in attack and scored India’s eight goals in the match.
Veteran Pyari Saxa and debutant Linda Kom Selto completed a hat-trick with three and four goals respectively, while Neha and Kajol D’Souza (two goals each), Sangita Basfour and Sorokaivam Ranjana. Chanu and Rinpa Haldar each scored one goal.
This became one of the largest margins of victory in the history of the Blue Tigres in international football. In 2010, India defeated Bhutan 18-0 in the SAFF Championship held in Bangladesh.
The rout started early in the seventh minute, when Pyari Saxa put India ahead with a stunning volley from Linda Kom’s cross from the right. A minute later, the Odisha forward doubled the score by knocking the ball home after Maldives goalkeeper Aminat Riza parried Sangita Basfore’s long-range shot.
Pyari turned provider in the 12th minute, this time with a cross from debutant Linda Kom, and in the 15th minute she completed her hat-trick with a header from a corner kick from skipper Danmei Grace. Neha, the second debutant, scored Blue Tigres’ first goal in the 16th minute. The shot from an acute angle was deflected by the goalkeeper and into the Maldives goal. Neha also provided a great assist, with a brilliant cross that split the Maldives defense, helping Linda double her tally on the 21st.
By the time Linda scored her hat-trick 30 minutes earlier, it looked like Maldives had had enough, but it wasn’t quite there yet. Neha added his eighth goal just before the end of the first half, capping off a dominant first half.
The onslaught continued in the second half, with Sangita Basfour adding her ninth goal within six minutes of the restart, followed by a stunning through ball that allowed Linda Kom to score her fourth goal of the match for India. Increased to double digits.
In the 54th minute, defender Ranjana Chanu added to the scoring list with a right-footed curler from the top of the box. Another debutant, Kajol D’Souza, came on as a substitute and scored two superb goals (59th and 66th minutes), showing great skill and technique to escape from his markers, especially on the second goal. Substitute Rinpa Halder scored her first goal in the 62nd minute between D’Souza’s shots.
The final whistle didn’t come soon enough for the Maldives, and to Brutigres’ credit, they took their foot off the scoring pedal in the final quarter of the match and instead dominated the ball and created new plays in midfield. I chose to experiment with patterns. .
For Alexandersson, his experiment with the team couldn’t have gone better, making it the perfect end to the year for the team.
India: Maibum Rinsoingambi Devi (GK), Sangita Basfour, Sanju (Shivani Toppo 64 minutes), Linda Kom Selto (Kajol D’Souza 56 minutes), Pyari Saksa (Limpa Hardal 56 minutes), Grace Danmei (C), Nitu Linda (Puja 64 minutes) ‘), Sorokaivam Ranjana Chanu (Vikshit) Bhalla 64 minutes), Juri Kishan (Toyjam Toibisana Chanu 56 minutes), Aruna Bag, Neha.
