Indian Football: Women’s Team share the spoils with Myanmar in Olympic Qualifiers, FC Goa humble I-League champions Chennai City FC, and much more…

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Welcome to another edition of the Indian football news roundup. Today, we will talk about the women’s football team sharing spoils with the Myanmar team in the second round of Olympic Qualifiers, FC Goa humbling the I-League champions Chennai City FC in the Super Cup semi-finals, and India confirming their participation in the Kings Cup 2019.

In case you missed out on the previous edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.

Women’s Olympic Qualifiers: India shares the spoils with Myanmar; sees Olympic dreams shatter

India bowed out of the tournament after sharing the spoils with Myanmar in the second round of Olympic Qualifiers (Image Credits- AIFF Media)
India bowed out of the tournament after sharing the spoils with Myanmar in the second round of Olympic Qualifiers (Image Credits- AIFF Media)

India shared the spoils with Myanmar in their final match of the second round of the Women’s Olympic Qualifiers. With that draw, their hopes of making it to the next round of the Olympic Qualifiers shattered as they required nothing less than a win over Myanmar to progress further.

India started the match on a positive note as Sandhiya Raghunathan put the Blue Tigress on the front foot in the 10th minute itself. However, Myanmar’s captain Win Tun equalized seven minutes later.

In the 22nd minute, India found themselves trailing as Myanmar converted their penalty after latching on to the rebound. However, India leveled things up in the 32nd minute when Sanju kept her cool to slot the ball past the rival goalkeeper.

The half-time scoreline read 2-2 but India quickly took the lead in the 62nd minute when Ratanbala Devi cut through the right wing to curl in a shot which left no chance for the goalkeeper to produce a save.

Just when it seemed India would walk away with the victory, Myanmar equalized as their captain Win Tun completed her hat-trick. India remained unbeaten in the Second Round of AFC Olympic Qualifiers but got knocked out of the tournament owing to inferior goal difference.

Super Cup 2019: FC Goa humbles I-League champions Chennai City FC; becomes the first team to reach finals

FC Goa humbled the I-League champions Chennai City FC in the semi-finals of the Super Cup to become the first team to reach the finals. The Gaurs’ victory also ascertains an all-ISL clash in the finals of the tournament as all the other I-League teams either gave a walkover to their opponent or got themselves knocked out in the Round of 16.

FC Goa looked deadly from the opening whistle itself but Chennai City FC custodian Mauro Boerchio kept them afloat. However, their resilience was finally broken when Ferran Corominas converted his penalty to give them the lead. The Spaniard doubled the lead in the 35th minute when he angled his shot perfectly to send the ball into the bottom right corner.

Chennai City FC did come into the second half with newfound energy and vigor and even hit the crossbar in the 66th-minute through Alexander Romario Jesuraj. However, three minutes later Brandon Fernandes made it 3-0 to end Chennai City FC’s hopes of completing the season double.

FC Goa will either face ATK or Chennaiyin FC in the Super Cup finals on 13th April.

Kings Cup 2019: India confirm their participation; to face off Thailand, Vietnam, and Curacao

The All India Football Federation confirmed India’s participation in the Kings Cup 2019 where the Blue Tigers will collide with Vietnam, Curacao, and the hosts Thailand. They further announced that the new head coach will be announced by mid-May.

The tournament will start from June 5 and finish on June 8. The tournament is a knockout-style tournament where two teams will face each other in the Semi-finals, with the winners progressing to the finals and the losers battling out in the 3rd Place Playoffs for pride. India last participated in the Kings Cup in 1977, where they ended in the third spot.