Golden brigade

Forward Nongmeikapam Sibani Devi: Last year’s quarterfinalists East Bengal began their Indian Women’s League 2023-24 campaign in style, defeating Sports Odisha 2-0 at the Capital Football Arena on Sunday. The winners led 1-0 at halftime.

The famous Red and Golden Brigade, coached by Dipankar Biswas, began in a whirlwind fashion and stormed the rival goal from the word go. It paid dividends almost immediately as East Bengal took the lead in the very second minute before Sports Odisha could settle in.

Forward Nongmeikapam Sibani Devi put the visitors in the lead within a couple of minutes which completely put Odisha on the backfoot. Sibani is a junior international, who has represented the country in the various Under-17 tournaments multiple times.