India women thrash Nepal 6-0 to win SAFF c’ship
22 Nov 2014 10:36 PM GMT
India clinched their third South Asian women's football championship on Friday, thrashing Nepal 6-0 in a one-sided final in Islamabad. Ngangom Bala Devi was the star of the show, bagging four goals and running the Nepalese defence ragged. The win cements India's place as the dominant force in women's football in the region, they have won all three editions of the championship since it was launched in 2010. India and Pakistan are normally bitter rivals in sport, but Devi said support from the home crowd had inspired her.
‘I am feeling so good to score four goals today. I received so much love here in Pakistan that made me improve my performance,’ she said after the match. It was the first high-profile regional women’s sports event in deeply-conservative Pakistan. The first women’s national championship in Pakistan was held in 2005 but players were required to follow a strict dress code, wearing trousers instead of the shorts normally worn by the players.
‘I am feeling so good to score four goals today. I received so much love here in Pakistan that made me improve my performance,’ she said after the match. It was the first high-profile regional women’s sports event in deeply-conservative Pakistan. The first women’s national championship in Pakistan was held in 2005 but players were required to follow a strict dress code, wearing trousers instead of the shorts normally worn by the players.
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