By Debayan Mukherjee,
AIFF Media Team

India 12 (Roja Devi – 24^th, 59^th, 74^th, 90+2),  Anushka Samuel – 71^st, 77^th, 82^nd, 84^th), Sushmita Bardhan – 3^rd 57^rd, Premi Chiru – 7^th, Jabamani Tudu – 67^th)

beat

UAE 0

DHAKA: A ruthless India U-16 Women’s National Team pulverized minnows United Arab Emirates (UAE) 12-0 in a contest that saw the ball cross UAE half only thrice in full ninety minutes.

Roja Devi and substitute Anushka Sharma grabbed four goals apiece with a brace from Sushmita Bardhan and goals from Jabamani Tudu and Premi Chiru as India played football as if they bursting crackers ahead of Diwali in the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship China 2015 (Qualifiers) at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday (October 21, 2014).

With this massive win, India have catapulted to the second spot from fourth in Group B with six points from three matches. Iran, who consolidated their place at the top of the heap after beating Jordan 6-1, now have nine points from three points with Bangladesh (6 points) third followed by Jordan in fourth place (3 points) and out-of-contention UAE rooted to the bottom without with nothing to show for.

Coming to the match, it was so lopsided that goalkeeper Linthoingambi Devi – playing her first game – shook more hands that had touches of the ball and her counterpart Dalal Abdulla made more passes than any of her teammates before the break.

Like already in the groove and just waiting to get into a night club to break free on a Saturday night, India took barely three minutes to break the deadlock. West Bengal’s Sushmita displayed deft touch to go past the keeper from a one on one situation with the ball in the air, poking home with the goal at her mercy.

Four minutes later, Premi drifted into the right-berth and dribbled past two defenders to sidestep the keeper and smash in a low shot at the near post.

The next goal came after 17 minutes. But had Premi, Kashmina and Sushmita converted their chances in that span the scorekeeper would surely have charged extra.

Bangladesh match’s hero Roja bagged her third goal of the competition with a drive from the edge of the box which showed goalkeeper Dalal in very poor light.

Jabamani hit the crosspiece two minutes from the break as India closed the half knowing it could easily have been 7-0 at halftime.

In between such flood of goalmouth action, Lifa Gama was replaced by Daya Devi one minute before the interval while Scindia Saundatikar making her first appearance in place of Srijana.

India atoned for their spurned efforts post the break, and in record breaking >

In the next 45 minutes the girls in blue plundered nine goals to create a record of the highest number of goals scored in a single match at the Bangabandhu Stadium.

Roja picked out Sushmita at the far end with the diminutive striker nutmegging the custodian – who would have preferred to even study that stand between the sticks – to poke in her second.

Within two minutes Roja was at the double once again – she had scored two including the winner in the last game – volleying home a Premi cross from the top of the box.

At the hour mark came two more evidences of the extent of one-sidedness in the game. UAE won their first corner in the 60^th minute and in the very next came in Anushka Samuel – replacing  Daya who complained of illness –who went on to score four times in the span of 29 minutes.

Jabamani found luck by her side in the second half as she met a low cross from the left to see the ball roll under the goalkeeper’s body and nestle into the back of the net. Half a dozen scored, but for Anushka the party had just begun.

A ten-minute hattrick with all opportunistic strikes coupled with help from the flailing goalkeeper and the cherry on top of that her fourth in the 84^th, the 15-year old Delhite wrecked havoc in her cameo.

In between her strikes, Roja not only grabbed her hattrick but completed the rout leaving the UAE players to end their campaign on the worst possible note.  

INDIA NEXT PLAY JORDAN ON THURSDAY (October 23, 2014).

INDIA: Linthoingambi Devi, Jabamani Tudu, Amrita Kumari, Thahenbi Devi, Anline Fernandes, Premi Chiru, Srijana Tamang (Scindia Saundatikar – 54^th), Kashmina, Sushmita Bardhan, Lifa Gama (Daya Devi – 43^rd Anushka Samuel –61^st), Roja Devi.