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Indian women’s league club Odisha FC were handed a humiliating 0-17 defeat on their AFC Women’s Champions League debut against Japan’s Urawa Reds Diamonds on Sunday. Odisha FC were completely outplayed in the encounter with the Japanese side controlling almost every minute of the game. Yu Endo scored the first goal of the match within five minutes of the first half and the Japanese side produced a brilliant display to go 8-0 up at half-time. The onslaught continued in the second half as Urawa Reds Diamonds ended up with 55 shots in sharp contrast to Odisha FC’s solitary effort.
Odisha FC will next take on Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City FC on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Indian senior men’s team will play a one-off friendly match against Vietnam on Saturday, October 12, following the withdrawal of Lebanon from the tri-nation friendly tournament.
As per the release by the AIFF media team, the match will kick off at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh, and will be designated as an official friendly, with points counting towards the FIFA Rankings.
As per the original schedule, India was supposed to face Vietnam on October 9 and Lebanon on October 12. After Lebanon’s withdrawal, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) requested the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to reschedule the Vietnam-India match to October 12, which was accepted by the VFF.
India will assemble in Kolkata on October 5 and have a training session on October 6. India’s coach Manolo Marquez and his squad will travel to Vietnam on October 7, where they will continue training.
Marquez announced a list of 26 probables on Monday. The final squad of 23 players will be announced prior to the team’s travel to Vietnam. After this, the team will play a friendly match against Malaysia during the FIFA Window on November 19.
Malaysia are currently ranked 132nd in the FIFA ranking, while India are ranked 126th. The last time the two teams met was in October 2023 in the Merdeka Cup semi-final. The Blue Tigers lost 2-4.
(With ANI inputs)
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