India lose 0-3 to Morocco

Bhubaneswar, Oct 14: Hosts India conceded three goals in the second half to suffer a humiliating 0-3 defeat to Morocco in their second Group A match and crash out of the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup here on Friday.
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 were also making their debut as automatic qualifiers being hosts, had lost to USA 0-8 in the opening match on Tuesday. They take on Brazil in their last group match on October 17, which will only be of academic interest.
Morroco still remain in contention for a quarterfinal berth with three points after title contenders Brazil and USA played out a 1-1 draw in another Group A match here earlier in the day.
Brazil and USA now have four points each after two matches. Morocco, who had lost to Brazil 0-1 on Tuesday, play against USA on October 17.
India dominated briefly in the early part of the first half which was largely evenly-contested. But the hosts lost the plot in the second half, conceding three goals.
India looked good early on, creating chances but Morocco were on ascendency and they were unlucky not to have taken the lead with the crossbar saving India in the 18th minute.
Another Morocco chance came right at the half-time whistle when Melody again failed to collect the ball with the scores locked 0-0 at half time.
Five minutes into the second half, Naketa handled the ball inside the Indian box and the referee pointed to the spot before El Madani stepped up to score from the penalty.
Morocco doubled the lead after Melody fumbled while trying to collect a cross from the right and captain Yasmine Zouhir slotted the ball home with a left footer in the 61st minute. (PTI)