AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup Qualifiers: Indonesia hand India their second defeat

India went down to hosts Indonesia 0-6 in their second Group B match of the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers at the Among Rogo Sports Hall on Friday, January 17, 2025.

The mighty Indonesians, considered one of the finest teams in the ASEAN region and by far the favourites to grab the group honours, were expected to steamroll the debutants Indians and raised hopes for their fans by scoring four goals in the first half.

But the Indian girls, exposed to the international arena for the first time in this tournament, displayed surprising resilience in the next 20 minutes to frustrate the hosts. But for the two, innumerable attempts by Indonesia to score were thwarted by India with effective defensive tactics.

For Indonesia, Ikeu Rosita (7’), Insyafadya Salsabillah (13’), Fitri Rosdiana (14’), Novita Murni (20’), Diah Tri Lestari (22’) and Nisma Francida Rusdiana (32’) were the scorers.

Indonesia had beaten Kyrgyz Republic 11-3 in the previous match. After today’s win, they have qualified for the Final Round in China with six points from two matches in the four-team group. Hong Kong, who beat India 5-0, have also made the grade after beating Kyrgyz Republic 4-0 in an earlier match on Friday.

Like in the match against Hong Kong, the inexperience of the Indian girls once again made the difference after their initial resistance with subtle defensive tactics underneath left the Indonesians baffled and somewhat unnerved.

So effective was India’s game plan at the start of the match that Indonesia’s Portuguese coach, Luis Goncalo Estrela, was forced to call for a timeout within five minutes for a quick briefing of his wards.

As the match resumed, India made their first foray in the rival area, and the ever-agile Ritika Singh narrowly missed the first opportunity to find the net despite running inside the area. She hit the advancing goalkeeper, much to the frustration of the Indian bench.

India, however, couldn’t deny the hosts for long, who have a fairly extended tradition of women’s futsal in their domestic circuit. After Ikeu Rosita weaved in to open the account, three more goals came before the Saudi Arabian referee called for half time.

If anyone feared India would cave in during the second session, it was not to be. In fact, a rejuvenated India gave a display of some fine futsal, though only in phases, to keep the scoreline under control.

In between, they missed a golden chance to score; Pooja Gupta had the time to write her name on the scoresheet off a pass by Radhika Patel, but she was foiled by the custodian.

India will play Kyrgyz Republic in the last match of the qualifiers on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at 11:30 IST.

India Starting Five: Tanvi Vijaykumar (GK), Arya More (C), Ritika Singh, Pooja Gupta, Rebecca Zamthianmawi.

Substitutes: Puspa Sahu (GK), Achom Degio, Radhika Patel, Vaishnavi Barate, Drishti Pant, Khushbu Saroj, Madhubala Alawe, Alphonsia Marydasan, Maya Rabari.