East Bengal defender Abena Anoma Opoku battles for the ball with 4.25 SC player Jong Pom-hui on Saturday
Anthony Andrews ’ two-time IWL champions lost 0-2 to North Korean powerhouse 4.25 Sports Club at Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Saturday but the result was good enough for them to become the first Indian team to qualify for the knockout stage of Asia’s premier women’s club competition. As 4.25 kept raiding the hosts’ box, East Bengal goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu and her teammates rose to the occasion on the back of both luck and pluck, defending in numbers, putting their bodies behind the ball and eventually clinching the issue by preventing the fancied rivals to score more. East Bengal women entered the field for their final Group B match well aware of what was required to fulfill their tryst with destiny in the AFC Women’s Champions League as one of the two best third-placed teams. Andrews packed his team’s defence after the break.
This became clear after their nearest challengers, Myanmar’s Ayeyawady FC, ended their Group A campaign with a 3-0 win over Iran’s Bam Khatoon FC, leaving them with a -6 goal difference. With Uzbekistan’s PFC Nasaf already through, the equation was simple for East Bengal: avoid losing their final group match by four or more goals to clinch a historic knockout berth. Yet, their march to the quarterfinals began on a dreadful note. Conceding in just the second minute when Han Jin-hong headed home a Pak Ok-I cross, East Bengal set a worrying pattern: North Korea controlled the proceedings with utmost authority, leaving the Indian side’s backline at sixes and sevens as they fought against the odds.
4.25 SC is a team owned and operated by North Korea’s national defence ministry and the team is named after April 25, which is celebrated in North Korea as their Military Foundation Day. The home team could have gone 0-3 down in the opening half an hour, Jong Pom-hu hitting the upright and the referee checked the monitor before ignoring the call for a penalty. Somehow, Shilky Devi and her team survived the onslaught against the run of play.