Haryana’s Manisha Kalyan becomes first Indian to play in UEFA Women's Champions League

football at Engomi, near Cyprus’s capital of Nicosia. At the stroke of the 60th minute in the match between Apollon Ladies FC and SFK Riga, Manisha Kalyan came in as a substitute for the former at Makareio stadium and became the first Indian footballer — among both men and women — to play in the topmost European club competition, the Uefa Champions League. For Haryana girl Manisha, it was not the impending history for the nation but the personal milestone and earnestness to stay focused that topped the mind ahead of her debut.

“Coach (Laurent Fassotte) had told me before the match to be prepared and that I would get some time in the match, even if it was for 10-15 minutes. So I had begun preparing myself,” Manisha told TOI on Friday. “I was telling myself that I needed to be ready, to give my very best.

The entire time, the focus was on giving my best for the club.” In fact, I had played some matches for the national team that had more intensity than yesterday’s (Thursday) game and I believed I was ready for it,” Manisha added. The closest that Indian football had come to such a feat was when Gurpreet Singh Sandhu represented Norwegian club Stabaek in the Europa League qualifying in 2016. The first round Women’s Champions League qualifying tie was also Manisha’s competitive debut for Apollon Ladies, having already scored for the Cypriot women’s champions in a pre-season friendly.

It was also a winning Champions League debut for the 20-year-old as they beat the Latvian topflight club 3-0 in their European opener this season. “I was a bit concerned that it was my first match for the club and I had got about one and a half months of training with them. Communication was also a bit of a worry ahead of the match.