‘No one knows how hard the girls toiled’

"We had a dream of winning the SAFF Women's Championship but we could not do it. The dream finally came true through this group of brilliant girls," was the instant reaction from former national striker Suinu Pru Marma, who represented Bangladesh in the first three editions of the regional women's football extravaganza.

"They deserved the trophy," Suinu said. "They have been working really hard over the years. No one knows how hard these girls toiled every day. While everyone sleeps, they wake up at 4:00am every day to train."

That training has paid dividends for a team that has been together since 2014. They delivered trophies in age-group international tournaments before making history by winning a maiden SAFF Women's Championship by beating Nepal 3-1. But in the background, there were unyielding barriers.

"To be honest, there are endless tales to these girls and their sufferings. Some did not have enough to afford the bus fare to Dhaka. Some even struggled to get meals once a day," Suinu, who represented Bangladesh from 2005 to 2015, added.

Suinu also praised the Bangladesh Football Federation for the all-out support that they have given to groom these players over the years.

"We once played the international tournaments on the back of only two-four weeks of preparation. There were a lot of problems. There were restrictions from family members and the community, but women's football has been rising day by day on the back of tremendous support from the federation."

To keep women's football on track, Suinu urged authorities to hold the Women's Football League regularly and to organise more age-group tournaments.

"I was once paid Tk one lakh by champions Abahani in the women's football league and many questioned the payment, saying it was too high. But today the girls are getting Tk 5 to 10 lakh playing the women's football league and I want to urge the federation to keep staging the league so more girls are interested in football," said the 32-year-old, adding that these milestones would help women's football in Bangladesh go further.