US thrashed India 8-0 in FIFA Women’s Under-17 Women’s World Cup
India suffered a 0-8 loss to the US in their opening match of the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup here on Tuesday. Within the first half hour of this one-sided match of Group A, the Indian team was trailing by four goals. The US was leading 5-0 at half-time. The team scored three more goals in the second half to show the Indian team the level of its game in front of the home audience.
Melina Rebimbas (9th and 31st) scored two goals for the CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean region) champions in this match while Charlotte Koehler (15th), Oneka Gamero (23rd), Gisele Thompson (39th), Ella Imri (51st), Taylor Suarez (59th) and captain Mia Bhuta (62nd) scored a goal each. India’s head coach Thomas Dennerby had said before the match that it would be difficult to score goals against his team after preparing well since February.
During the match, however, his players were not seen giving competition to the rival team from anywhere. The country’s first match at the Women’s World Cup in front of the home crowd turned out to be a nightmare. The Indian team, which made it to this age-group tournament on the basis of host, had to bear the brunt of its poor defense play against the runners-up of its opening season in 2008.
The poor performance of the Indian team in the match can be gauged from the fact that in the first half, America kept the ball under control for 70 percent of the time. The Indian team could penetrate the US defense only twice, but not once did the shots of their players reach the goal-post. India now have to play against Morocco on 14 October and Brazil on 17 October.
