India, July 11 -- The win against Thailand is India's greatest football moment this century. Stunning as they were, the men's team surprising UAE in 2001 and holding Asian champions Qatar to 0-0 away in 2019 will be behind in the pecking order to what the women achieved on Saturday.

All three results were against teams ranked significantly higher. India were 124 when they hosted UAE, who were ranked 64th and coached by Henri Michel, in the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign. Qatar were 62nd in the FIFA rankings, India 103rd when the teams met in Doha in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. At Chiang Mai's 700th Anniversary Stadium, the gap between the teams were 24 places but rarely has less felt so much more.

That's because for all the guts and...