A month ago, Oinam Bembem Devi decided to hang up her boots after playing football for over two decades. When you are an active player at the age of 35, a loss at a major tournament can hasten retirement plans. Manipur, 17-time senior women national champions, had lost to the Railways 4-3 on penalties in the 21st edition of the tournament held at Jabalpur. In extra-time, with Manipur leading 3-2, Bembem was disallowed a goal because she was off-side. Railways equalised and eventually won in the shoot-out. This was not the fairytale swansong, and in city known for its Rail Coach Factory than football.
Bembem extended her career by a month. Shillong, a football hub and home to an I-League team, would accord her a grand farewell now. The JLN stadium here can seat 23,000. It was jam-packed and hundreds more perched themselves precariously on rooftops of houses or on terraces to watch India play Nepal in the final of the women’s football at the 12th South Asian Games.
Before the whistle, Bembem, captaining India for the last time, was felicitated. The gesture received appreciation from the fans. In the North-East, where football is more popular than cricket, Bembem is an icon. The women’s football matches have drawn crowds in Shillong. They will tell you here that the women’s team is ranked higher than the men. Organisers had predicted a full-house for the final. Ticket counters, still open half an hour before the match started, made brisk sales.
Nepal had held India earlier in the tournament, so this was not going to be an easy farewell match for the veteran mid-fielder. But the girls had promised their didi a winning farewell. While representing Railways, some of them had played against Bembem in the finals of the senior nationals. Today they were all playing for her. They would keep their word.
Manipur is the dominant team in women’s football. Ten of those in this squad are from the state, seven of them were in the starting line-up and three of them scored, including a brace from Kamala Devi, to make this farewell memorable
While representing Railways, some of them had played against Bembem in the finals of the senior nationals. Today they were all playing for her. They would keep their word.
Yet the early exchange, didn’t indicate how one-sided the final would turn out to be. The Indian women were stitching together passes, but the finishing touch was eluding them up front. Bembem tried to find the net from just outside the box in the 10th minute but the ball sailed well over the crossbar. A minute later Kamala Devi weaved in through the left, but the low shot was off the target. The Indian women were using long passes but their forays were quelled by the Nepal backline, which had not conceded a goal at the games.
The big break came in the 31st minute when Kamala Devi latched onto a cross from Supriya Routray from the right flank. Ten minutes into the second half,
Kamala doubled the lead after the ball landed within her shooting range following a mistimed attempt to clear it. Nepal kept charging on the counter-attack and this opened up space for the Indians. Bala Devi in the 71st and Ashalata Devi eleven minutes later completed the rout.
A month after Manipur were beaten in the final of the senior nationals, three women from the state had scored four goals to give a torchbearer of women’s football a fitting farewell.
All the scenes associated with the retirement of a valued player were played out at the JLN Stadium. Bembem, draped in Tricolour, was carried on their shoulders by teammates, during victory lap. There was also an after-party in honour of Bembem, hosted by Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma.
The whole occasion, even for a veteran, was overwhelming. “In my entire life, I have never played in front of such a huge crowd. The greatest joy for me is that I could finish my career in this part of the country where people love football. The atmosphere here was something I have not experienced before,” Bembem said.
Now Bembem will devote her time between being a head constable with the Manipur police – she has not been promoted in seven years despite winning two gold medals for India at the South Asian level – and taking up the role of a coach.
Like most girls from Manipur, Bembem started playing football with the boys in
the neighbourhood. Her father advised her to concentrate on studies, but she was not going to listen and went onto carve a name in women’s football.
Kamala Devi recalled how she would listen to football commentary on radio when she was growing up. Bembem would be the name she often heard and soon she wanted to be like the legend. On Monday with two goals in
didi‘s final game, Kamala moved closer to her dream.
South Asian Games: After two decades, football star Bembem Devi bids bye-bye | The Indian Express
Thank you and best wishes OBD
i 
Mary Kom in final.
