Ratings: Praiseworthy team effort from India, Brazil shine

The young Blue Tigresses failed to register a goal in the entire competition.

India completed their debut FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign with a 5-0 defeat to Brazil at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The hosts ended the tournament at the bottom of Group A with three defeats in as many matches and a goal difference of -16.

The young blues tigresses got better with time, but still have a lot to do to be able to put up a strong fight at such tournaments. For Brazil, the win leads them to a quarter-final clash against Germany which is to be held on the 21st of October.

On that note, we take a look at how the Indian players performed in their final group stage game.

Melody Keisham - 6.5

Melody failed to keep a clean sheet yet again, but she did perform well considering the quality of Brazil’s front line. She came off her line, made numerous good saves including a fingertip save and two back-to-back saves. Unfortunately, she conceded quite a few long rangers this evening.

Shubhangi Singh - 7.0

Shubhangi yet again put up a good performance with numerous clearances and blocks. She denied Brazil a goal with a perfectly timed trick play and confused Jhonson in front of an open net. Moreover, she also kept a check on the Brazilian attackers on her flank.

Kajal - 7.0

She executed her headed clearances really well. Kajal did not let the Brazilian players send a ball into the box. She blocked a clear shot on target and denied Brazil a goal. In short, she was solid and defended pretty well.

Shilky Hemam - 6.5

Shilky was used in a centre-back role by Thomas Dennerby against Brazil. She was aware of the dangers around her and executed her clearances and crucial blocks as per the situation’s requirement.

Astam Oraon (C) - 6.5

Brazil scored the first goal from her side after she was unable to deny Aline from assisting the opener. But, she did display no nonsense defending for most parts of the game. Astam did not make any mistakes as such. But she was just outpaced by the Brazilian wingers.

Kajol Dsouza - 6.5

Kajol was decent in the middle of the park for India. She made a few crucial interceptions, but soon gave the ball as she couldn’t control it well. As a result, Dennerby took her off early in the second half.

Shailja - 6.0

Shailja put up a decent performance on her first start at the World Cup. She dispossessed the Brazil players quite a few times in the middle and played key passes to her teammates which didn’t yield anything fruitful.

Babina Lisham - 6.0

Babina did win a few ground duels, but just couldn’t make the most out of any of those. Her poor first touch let her down on each occasion which resulted in Brazil winning the ball time and over.

Also Read:

• India bow out of FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with Brazil drubbing
• 2-3 months of football won’t help, says India U-17 coach Thomas Dennerby

Neha - 7.0

Neha took a glance on goal and outpaced Brazil’s defenders a few times. She won the ball in key positions and initiated good-looking attacking moves, but just couldn’t produce an end product.

Anita Kumari - 6.5

She played as a left-winger and tracked back almost every time to help her teammates as Brazil were attacking more from the left flank. Anita was really good with her pressing and eventually forced Brazil to commit a few mistakes.

Rejiya Laishram - 6.5

She tracked back a lot of times to help Shubhangi neutralise the threat from the right flank. Rejiya worked her socks off on the right flank by running up and down all the time.

Substitutes

Sheila Loktongbam - 6.0

She made her World Cup debut by replacing Kajol Dsouza in the middle of the park. Sheila came on in the 58th minute and gave a decent account of herself by winning a few ground duels and executing one key pass. 

Lavanya Upadhyay - 5.5

Lavanya made her debut at the World Cup by replacing Rejiya Laishram on the right flank. She tracked back on most occasions and helped her teammates defend at the back.

Purnima Kumari - N/A

Purnima replaced Anita Kumari for the final 10 minutes of the game and couldn’t make much of an impact.

Varshika - N/A

She too made her debut for India at the World Cup. Varshika replaced Babina Lisham in the 79th minute and couldn’t do much for her side.