Bangladesh made a history clinching the title of the SAFF Women’s Football Championship defeating Nepal by 3-1 at the Dasharat Rangashala Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday extended her heartiest congratulations to Bangladesh Women Football Team as they won the title of SAFF Women Championship, 2022.
In a congratulatory message, she greeted all the players, coach and officials of the Bangladesh Women Football Team as well as the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) officials for becoming the SAFF champion.
Overcoming all odds, the women booters became the unbeaten champion in the tourney. Bangladesh maintained the winning streak in the 6th edition of the SAFF Women’s Football Championship final.
It was the day of achievements for Bangladesh women players as the captain of the team, Sabina Khatun, was awarded with ‘Most Valuable Player of the Tournament’ award as she is the high scorer in the tourney. She scored eight goals in five matches. Moreover, Bangladesh goalkeeper Rupna Chakma received the award of the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Bangladesh scorer Shamsunahar junior hit the first goal at the 13th minute of the thrilling final against Nepal. Another Bangladeshi striker Krishna Rani netted the ball twice in the match. Anita scored the only goal for the host Nepal.
Couple of goals from Krishna Rani Sarker and a magnificent goal from Shamsunnahar Junior helped Bangladesh women make their dreams come true.
The match was started with high intensity as initially it looked Bangladesh faced a big challenge from the host team. Nepal tried to fight back very strongly with counter attacks but everything went in vain as the footballers of Bangladesh team displayed extraordinary skills and determination to the last minute of the match.
Bangladesh made a decent start and went on with a quick attack through the left side but could not make any impact on the 10th Minute. But Bangladesh had not to wait for a long to take the lead. The first goal was netted by the Bangladeshi booters on 13th minute. Shamsunnahar Junior whipped the defenders to make a superb finish from a tight angle from Monika Chakma, who floated a right side cross to silence the 25,000 crowds at the Rangashala Stadium. Bangladeshi players were over the moon taking the lead very early.
Nepal tried hard with some strong attacks to have an equalizer but the confident defense line led by Ankhi Khatun and Sanjida Akhter dealt with the pressure successfully to salvage from danger on 33rd minute.
Bangladesh goalkeeper Rupna Chakma brilliantly saved many powerful shots from Nepal booters. She also saved an extraordinary shot from Dipa Shahi at the cost of a corner.
After getting rid of the threat Bangladesh made a strong come back to the match and took the possession. They built up a sharp counter attack through the midway. After having a good control over the ball, Bangladesh captain Sabina passed it inside the box to Krishna Rani Sarker. Krishna beat the defenders with her pace and technique. Finally, her shot reached the net to double the score for Bangladesh (2-0) before the half time.
Bangladesh strikers played and passed the ball perfectly to score again and again. On the other hand, the hosts went in search of scoring goals very often.
As the half time passed both sides began to dominate each other with the ball. Nepal got their reward in the 70th minute. Anita Basnet, who left free inside the area, received a pass beat Bangladesh keeper Rupna Chakma without any trouble from the defenders (1-2).
After reducing the margin, the home side looked to get back into the game. Coming out from the tremendous stress, Bangladesh scored another goal to bring the game beyond the reach of Nepal.
It was almost just against the run of the game when Krishna Rani receiving a long ball entered into the box and beat the Nepali goalkeeper to make the margin 3-1 on 76th minute.
The match ended with 3-1 goals. Bangladesh women team wrote the history. They bagged the first SAAF title for them.
Experts hailed the head coach of Bangladesh women football team Golam Robbani Choton for his special guidance and effort to the team.
In the tournament, Bangladesh played and won against the Maldives by a score of 3-0 on 7th September. Then they crushed Pakistan by a score of 6-0 on 10th September. Later, Bangladesh women won against India by a score of 3-0 on the 13th of this month. Defeating Bhutan by a score of 8-0 on 16th September, Bangladesh reached the final. In the final, of SAAF championship Bangladesh clinched the title defeating Nepal by a score of 3-1 on 19th September.