In a dominant display of attacking football, the Indian women’s football team secured a resounding 14-0 victory over the Maldives in an international friendly match on Monday. The match, held at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, saw Player of the Match Lynda Kom Serto score four goals on her debut, while Pyari Xaxa netted a hat-trick in just eight minutes, helping India start their friendly campaign on a high note under new Swedish coach Joakim Alexandersson.
Xaxa opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a brilliant volley from Lynda’s cross, before doubling the lead just a minute later. She completed her hat-trick by the 15th minute, heading in a corner from captain Dangmei Grace. In between, Xaxa assisted Lynda for India’s third goal in the 12th minute.
Lynda was in fine form, scoring four goals—two in the first half (12th, 21st minutes) and two in the second half (29th, 52nd minutes). Neha, also making her debut, marked the occasion with a brace, finding the back of the net in the 16th and 45th minutes. Kajol D’Souza, another debutant, scored twice, while Sangita Basfore, Sorokhaibam Ranjana Chanu, and Rimpa Halder each added a goal.
The game was briefly interrupted in the first half when a linesman was attacked by bees, forcing a 15-minute delay before play resumed.
India dominated from the outset, leading 8-0 at halftime. Alexandersson handed debuts to eight players, with three of them—Xaxa, Lynda, and Neha—contributing eight goals in total. The victory marked one of India’s biggest-ever margins in international football, only eclipsed by their 18-0 win over Bhutan in the 2010 SAFF Championship.
The two teams will face off again in the second friendly on January 2, at the same venue.
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