BS News Agency: The Indian women's U-17 football team defeated Iraq 14-0 and Syria 2-0. After defeating Malaysia 4-0 in the final match of Group E at the Selayang Stadium in Malaysia on Sunday, they qualified for the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup China 2027 by topping the group with 9 points from 3 matches. They are the first women's team to make history by qualifying for the main stage of the AFC Asian Cup twice in a row. On a disappointing day when the Indian senior women's football team lost to Russia by 8 goals. Riddhima Devi, Preetika Barman, Anushka Kumari, Nidhi scored for the Indian U-17 women's team.
The field had become very slippery due to heavy rain since morning. There was water under the grass, making it difficult to roll the ball. So it was not easy for the footballers to pass the ball or attack. Local fans were present in large numbers to cheer on the home team, Malaysian girls. But their hopes were dashed and the home girls lost.
Within the first 25 minutes, the Indian girls would have secured the victory by scoring a goal, had Malaysian goalkeeper Subri not made several saves. India's Thandamani Baske and Riddhima Devi took control of the midfield and continued to supply the ball upwards. Silky Devi attacked from the right wing and Alva from the left wing, putting pressure on the Malaysian defense. Neera Chanu's header hit the crossbar. But Malaysia could not stop the Indian girls' advance for long. In the 29th minute, Riddhima scored with a powerful right-footed shot from Silky's pass to give India the lead. Anushka Kumari's push beat the goalkeeper and was about to go into the goal, but Malaysia's Nina Binti saved it from the goal line.
The Indian women's U-17 team scored their second goal in the 51st minute. Pritika headed the ball into the net after Alva and Anushka's feet had deflected off the ball. Anushka Kumari scored her eighth goal of the competition in the 56th minute to give India a 3-0 lead. In the 87th minute, Nidhi picked up the ball, sped past four Malaysian footballers and beat the goalkeeper to secure a 4-0 win for India. This was Nidhi's first goal for the country. Along with the attack, two centre-backs, Julan Nongmaithem and Abhasta Basnet, played a major role in the victory of Joachim Alexander's girls.
The Indian girls celebrated their victory at the end of the match. Malaysian football fans also congratulated them.