New Delhi, Nov. 15 -- As the final whistle blew, East Bengal players ran around the pitch high-fiving and embracing teammates, and acknowledging the small but dedicated fan base that had made way to the Kishore Bharati Krirangan. The scoreboard showed East Bengal had lost 0-2 to 4.25 SC in the final Group B game of the AFC Women's Champions League in Kolkata on 7 November.

What the scoreboard didn't show is that the Moshal Girls had held back the North Korean club enough to enter uncharted territory for Indian football. With a goal difference of -2 in the group stage, East Bengal was one of the two third-placed teams to advance to the quarterfinals, making them the first Indian team, men's or women's, to surge into the knockouts of the p...