The Indian football fan may take a while more to match the cricket-crazy cacophony in the country, but as each piercing whistle, catcall and frantically yelled piece of advice during India’s match against Syria at the Ambedkar Stadium showed, that gap might just be shrinking. The empty patches of space in the stands disappeared before kick-off, and once each member of the crowd had found a place with a good view of the goal and enough space to display their banners, there wasn’t a moment’s silence for 90 minutes.

Shabana Khan and Ritu Chauhan, sitting right behind Syria’s goal in the first half, had plenty to discuss during the match, analysing every move and how it could’ve worked better, holding their heads in despair when Syria scored the game’s only goal. Being state-level players for Delhi’s women’s football team, both girls hope to make a career in the sport of their choice. “My brother used to play football but he stopped to study for an MBA. I am going to keep playing. My parents have also been supportive,” said Shabana, right before jumping up to look at a goalmouth melee on the other side of the field.

Ritu, who studies at Janki Devi College along with Shabana, says the rest of their team members are scattered around the stadium. “Earlier, hardly 20 girls used to come for state trials, but now there’s much more competition. At least 50-60 players show up,” she said. Both girls do not watch too much cricket. Surprisingly, the football they watch on TV is all Indian.

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