End of the road

PTI

Bhubaneswar, October 14

Hosts India conceded three goals in the second half to suffer a 0-3 defeat to Morocco in their second Group A match and crash out of the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup here today.

Debutants Morocco scored through El Madani (50th minute), Yasmine Zouhir (61st) and Cherif Djennah (90+1) to script their maiden win in the tournament.

India, who are also making their debut, had lost 0-8 to USA in the opening match on Tuesday. They take on Brazil in their last group match on October 17.

With three points, Morocco remained in contention for a quarterfinals berth after title contenders Brazil and USA played out a 1-1 draw in the other Group A match earlier in the day.

Brazil and USA now have four points each after two matches. Morocco, who had lost 0-1 to Brazil on Tuesday, play against USA on Monday.

It was a much-improved performance from the Indian side after being humbled by USA, and they dominated briefly in the early part of the first half. But the hosts completely lost the plot in the second half, giving away a penalty to kickstart the scoring process.

Goalkeeper Melody Keisham, who replaced Anjali Munda for this match, had a forgettable game as her mistake gifted Morocco their second goal.

“We fought hard but lost the match. We will try to give our best against Brazil,” said captain Astam Oraon after the match.

Head coach Thomas Dennerby said: “It was a much-improved performance by the team. But we made mistakes including by the goalkeeper.”

Brazil, USA share spoils

Title contenders Brazil and USA played a fast-paced match as both the teams closed in on a quarterfinals berth.

Both the goals were scored in the first half, in the space of four minutes. Nicollette Kiorpes gave USA the lead in the 33rd minute but Carol restored parity in the 37th minute.

It was an evenly contested match between Brazil and USA, who had more ball possession as well as more shots on opposition goal.

Concacaf champions USA had 57 per cent ball possession and 19 shots, out of which seven were on target. Brazil, the South American champions, had 15 shots, out of which four were on target.

In Margao, African champions Nigeria thrashed New Zealand 4-0 in a Group B match. Germany hammered Chile 6-0 in the other match of the group. Germany lead the pool with two wins in a row.