Sports
  Spirited Bangladesh face Bhutan in 1st semifinal Sunday
  27-10-2024

Spirited Bangladesh faces Bhutan in the first semifinal of the seven-nation SAFF Women`s Championship scheduled to be held Sunday at Dasharath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The match kicks off at 1.45 pm Bangladesh time.

Group B champions host Nepal will meet group A runners-up India in the second semifinal which will be held on the same day at 6.45 pm.

Bangladesh has shown a good brand of football so far in their group face matches and eventually emerged as the group A champions, BSS reports.

Sabina and her team played out a 1-1 goal draw with Pakistan in their opening group match and beat five-time SAFF champions India by 3-1 goals in their second group match of the tournament.

This was the second consecutive win for Bangladesh against India in the SAFF Championship after defeating them by 3-0 goals in the last SAFF Women`s Championship held in Kathmandu in 2022.

Forward Tohura Khatun, led from the front, scoring two goals against India match while Afeida Khandaker supported her with a lone goal to secure her team`s comprehensive victory against India.

Bangladesh team head coach Peter Butler must be expecting the same performance from his girls in the semifinal match against Bhutan.

Despite the 1-3 goals defeat, India also reached the semifinal as the Group A runners-up defeating their arch-rivals Pakistan by 5-2 goals in the tournament opener.

On the other hand, Bhutan, a comparatively different side than the last SAFF tournament, improved a lot and they may cause concern for Bangladesh.

In the Group B matches, Bhutan showed impressive performance forcing Nepal to play a goalless draw in their opening group match and beat Sri Lanka by 4-1 goals in their second group match.

They thrashed Maldives by 13-0 goals to finish as the group B runners-up, rode on a brilliant hat-trick by Bhutanese forward Deki Lhazom.

The final of the tournament will take place on October 30.