Indian women's football team pulls off shock win over Dutch

Though the visiting side was an assorted outfit, a mix of first team and Under-19 players, the win by the Indians was creditable considering that the Dutch are ranked 14th in FIFA women's rankings while India are placed 52nd.

Ashalata Devi scored the only goal of the match in the 15th minute which eventually was the difference between the two sides.

Sans their key midfielder Supriya Routray and playing in artificial turf which they don't do too often, the Indians beat all the odds to level the two-match series 1-1.

The home side had given the Dutch a mighty scare before going down 0-2 in the first match at Kolhapur on January 17.

Indian coach Anadi Barua described the win as historic for Indian women's football.

"This is historic. Who would have given us a chance before the two matches against the Dutch? But we did it. My girls did it. This is fantastic. The result will be a big boost for women's football in India. This is path-breaking," an elated Barua said after the match which was played at the Father Agnel Sports Complex at Navi Mumbai.

He, however, said that he was not sure if India would gain points in the FIFA rankings from today's win as the opposition was not the first team of the Netherlands.

"I think, it's a mix of their (Dutch) Under-19 and first team players. It is an exhibition match and so am not sure whether we will get points for FIFA rankings calculation," he told PTI.

"But the creditable thing is we level the international exhibition series 1-1. It's also credit to the AIFF for arranging such kind of matches. The exposure the players got would boost their confidence and go a long way in improving the standard of women's football in the country," he said. MORE