Bangladesh’s title defence off to great start

Forward Mosammat Sagorika struck a double and Munki Akhter scored once as Bangladesh began their title defence of the SAFF U-19 Women's Championship with a 3-1 victory over Nepal at Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur, Dhaka, yesterday. 

Three-time champions Bangladesh have been regarded as the favourites in the four-nation tournament, particularly given that the girls in red and green won the title twice as hosts. With their sights set on the coveted trophy, Saiful Bari Titu's charges also hope to emulate the standard the senior women's team set against Singapore in recent FIFA friendlies.

Although the Afeida Khandakar-led team did not score as many goals as their seniors did against Singapore in December last year, they dominated the runners-up of the previous edition from the word go, leading 2-0 at the break.

Bangladesh, strengthened by five senior team players, came close to breaking the deadlock in the fifth minute when Sapna Rani's free-kick rebounded off the far post and Munki's follow-up header was blocked. Two minutes later, Sagorika danced past two players to set up Munki, who was denied by goalkeeper Sujata Tamang.

The home side kept pressing the Nepal backline high up the pitch and soon reaped the reward. Puja Das narrowly missed the target twice before Sagorika finally drew first blood with an over-head chip over advancing goalkeeper Sujata after being fed by Sapna Rani in the 40th minute.

Munki soon extended the lead with a clever finish inside the box after Eity Khatun sent a wonderful ball inside the box from the right wing, having noticed that the Nepal goalkeeper Sujata was out of position.

The home side could have had a greater cushion at the interval when Sagorika was brought down inside the box by defender Simran Rai in stoppage time. Captain Afeida's penalty kick, however, rattled the far post, frustrating a couple of thousand enthusiastic home fans who kept beating the drums and chanted the players' names on a chilly evening.

In the second half, Nepal regrouped to put pressure on Bangladesh and were able to reduce the margin in the 54th minute, courtesy of an error by goalkeeper Swarna Rani Mandal who misjudged a long ball and allowed Sukriya Miya find the back of the net.

Conceding the goal had Bangladesh seemingly nervous as they focused on ball possession. However, soon the game was put to bed when Eity played a defence-split through-pass for Sagorika, who raced into the box to beat substitute goalkeeper Karun Budhathoki and slipped down inside the box before finishing clinically in the 56th minute.

Coach Titu later threw in a pair of fresh legs to carry the momentum but Bangladesh were unable to increase the winning margin as India did in the tournament's first match earlier in the evening, defeating Bhutan by a whopping 10-0 while riding on four goals from Pooja and a hattrick from Sibani Devi.