Sweden Put 4 Past India To Win The U-17 Women’s Tournament in Mumbai

The India U-17 women’s team were handed a 4-0 loss by Sweden in the final of the U17 Women’s Football Tournament 2019 at the Mumbai Football Arena. The Swedish women were crowned champions courtesy of their all round performance were they dominated the game from the word go.

The visitors who had earlier defeated the Indian eves in the league stage were the most attacking side of the two. They came out all guns blazing from the start of the game and took an early lead in the fourth minute. Sweden’s Rusul Kafaji put the Swedes in the lead just four minutes into the game as she found the back of the net with a superb shot from outside the penalty box.

The hosts looked to bounce back as Sumati Kumari kept the Indians in the hunt. Sumati almost looked dangerous from the left flank but an alert Swedish defence kept the Indian forward at bay and did not allow her to cause any trouble to the visitors. However, the Swedish women’s team extended their in the 16th minute as Rusul’s, who had put the visitors in the lead, corner found her skipper Elma Nelhage, who did not make any mistake and headed it into the goal.

Now the visitors took total control of the game as just two minutes after scoring their second goal they scored another to further down the hopes of the hosts to make a comeback. In the 18th minute Swedish girls added a third through Evelina Duljan, who raced down the right flank, got into the box and shot across to score.

Now the away side was toying with the hosts as in the 20th min ute they once again looked to score through Monica Bah, who latched on to an aerial through ball and fired in a powerful shot from the penalty area. However, this time Indian custodian Manju Ganjhu made a diving effort to thwart the danger away.

The score remained 3-0 in the favour of the Sweden in the half time.

In the second half the Indian team looked to make a comeback as they created the first attack after changeover. Wing back Jyoti Kumari curled in a cross from her flank that evaded an onrushing Lynda Kom and was collected by the Swedish custodian Elin Svahn.

India’s efforts to register themselves on the scoresheet was thwarted away by the Sweden defense on a number of occasions while the away side arned a penalty kick for a foul inside the box in the 61st minute. However, the chance was wasted as Matilda Vinberg’s shot went above the crossbar.

Eventually the visitors made it 4-0 through Monica who converted a a cross from the right flank and this proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Indian eves.

The award-winners at the end of the tournament were as follows:

Most Valuable Player: Evelina Duljan (Sweden)

Most Promising Player: Shilky Devi (India)

Highest Scorer: Monika Bah (Sweden)

Best Goalkeeper: Elin Svahn (Sweden).

Leave a Reply