Kashmina scores in penalty shootout as ZNK Dinamo Zagreb wins maiden cup title

India’s Jyoti Chouhan, MK Kashmina, and Kiran Pisda helped their club, ZNK Dinamo Zagreb win its maiden Croatian women’s football cup title on Saturday. 

Dinamo’s summit clash against ZNK Osijek was a tight knot that was only undone after a penalty shootout that went down to sudden death before Kashmina calmly scored the final spot-kick to help the Croatian capital side win 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 1-1.

Osijek was a record 19-time champion of the Croatian women’s football Cup and had been invincible throughout the season until going down to Dinamo in the final.

READ | From Manipur to Croatia: Kashmina outgrows violence to realise the European dream

ZNK Dinamo Zagreb has been a haven for Indian women footballers over the last couple of seasons. It began with Jyoti and Soumya Guguloth in 2022 and were soon joined by winger Kiran and Kashmina, who eventually played crucial roles in their team’s momentous triumph on Saturday.

While Kashmina came on from the bench in the final, Jyoti and Kiran played the entire game. Jyoti and Kashmina had scored one each in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

This is the second season ZNK Dinamo Zagreb made it to the final. It lost the final 2-3 to ZNK Split last season, where Jyoti had scored.