Tamil Nadu eves strike their way to soccer glory

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu women’s football team edged out Manipur 2-1 for a historic win in the final of the senior national championship in Cuttack on Wednesday. It was the state’s maiden national title in senior football in either sex.

Manipur are the powerhouse of women’s football with 18 titles in 22 editions but they could not match the bunch of plucky girls from Tamil Nadu who had never played a final before.

K. Indumathi, the lynchpin of Tamil Nadu attack, opened the scoring in the third minute and she set up Indrani for the team’s second before half-time. Although Manipur pulled one back, they couldn’t prevent Tamil Nadu from completing a famous win.

Indumathi, a sub-inspector with Chennai city police, said the triumph was a tribute to the team’s unity. “When we left Chennai for the championship, I didn’t think winning the title was a possibility but our confidence surged after we defeated Odisha in the quarter-final. The whole team started to believe that the dream was indeed realistic,” she added. Indumathi, a native of Cuddalore, was the player of the final as well as the tournament’s top-scorer with 10 goals.

Coach M. Muruhuvendan said he couldn’t have asked for more from his players. “Manipur’s squad was full of international players, but we played without fear. We should have won by a bigger margin if not for some poor finishing. I hope this victory will be a great boost for women’s football in Tamil Nadu,” he added.