Indian football: Women's team loses 0-1 to Uzbekistan in friendlies

The Indian women’s football team was defeated by Uzbekistan 0-1 defeat in its first friendly. The winning goal by Maftuna Shoyimova made all the difference. While both sides made their way to the goal post many times, it was Uzbekistan who found the back of the net with a late free-kick by Shoyimova in the 87th minute.

The Uzbeks started off on a higher tempo in near-freezing conditions, India keeper Aditi Chauhan got on-to-action early on since she set her momentum by grabbing a low cross from point-blank range.

India looked to give the hosts a tough time with defender Ranjana Chanu along with midfielder Sangita Basfore created an opening from the left side, but the effort was in vain because of the Uzbek defence.

In the few minutes reaching the first half, Uzbekistan made another attempt at the goal with  Nilufar Kudratova hit the crossbar, before the ball was cleared from inside a melee of legs and the referee blew the whistle marking half time. 

Daya Devi, who replaced Pyari Xaxa, was quick in the second half, as she pressed high up on the field, forcing Uzbekistan defence to make errors with the help of Soumya Guguloth.

10 minutes into the second half, Manisha along with Ranjana Chanu worked the ball up the pitch down the left flank. The young attacker found a channel to Daya, made an attempt at the goal by crossing the ball. However, the ball escaped all the attackers and defenders in line and the chances of scoring a goal were nullified.  

In the 65th minute, India broke on the counter as Sangita Basfore won the ball. 

However, it was the pressure of the situation that must have got to her since she just managed to pass it to Dangmei Grace. It was Grace who took the show forward and into the attacking half, and curled an aerial and passed the ball to Manisha, who slipped through between two defenders.

Between all of this, the hosts found the back of the net with just three minutes of the game left on the clock when Maftuna Shoyimova slotted a free-kick from the 25 yards out, into the top corner. 

Before the Indian team could react, the 90 minutes mark was reached and they had to face a 1-0 defeat against Uzbekistan.