Bangladesh seek to continue dominance

Bangladesh are upbeat about the possibility of winning back-to-back titles when the defending champions take on a strong Indian outfit in the final of the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan today.

The final between the two neighbouring countries is a re-match of last the last edition's finale, when the girls in red and green handed a single-goal defeat to India to clinch the title of the prestigious regional tournament.

India have a rich tradition of women's football as their senior women's team have never lost to their Bangladeshi counterparts but when it comes to age-level football, the scenarios is completely different with Bangladesh dominating their illustrious opponents.

The Bangladesh girls have turned into a virtually unbeatable team against India, who suffered 1-0 and 3-0 reversals respectively in their final and group stage matches of the inaugural SAFF U-15 Women's Championship in 2017.

Before that, in the now-defunct AFC U-14 Girls' Regional (Central and South) Championship in Tajikistan in 2016, India suffered a 3-1 defeat to Bangladesh in the group stage and went down 4-0 defeats against the same opponents in the final.

In age-level women's football, Bangladesh's last defeat to India came during the 2014 AFC U-16 Women's Championship Qualifiers when Bangladesh surrendered a lead to suffer a 2-1 defeat in Dhaka, but the girls in red and green have since been unbeaten against India.

The defending champions are now flying high in the second edition of the championship and have stormed into the final with a commanding 5-0 win over hosts Bhutan in the semifinal, after having scored 17 goals in two group matches while conceding none.

Bangladesh are therefore tipped as favourites but India have also showed their brilliance in reaching the final by edging out Nepal 2-1 in the semifinals. In the group stage, they got off to a flying start with a 12-0 win over Sri Lanka but had to struggle for a 1-0 win against Bhutan to emerge group champions.

Past record and current form may favour Bangladesh but coach Golam Rabbani Choton is wary of the threat posed by India and instructed his charges to focus on carrying their group-stage and semifinal form into today's final.    

“India have reached this stage by performing well -- they have a good heritage in women's football. They are really strong opponents,” Choton told The Daily Star in a phone conversation.

“There is only one thing to say -- we will go there to win the match. The girls will be trying for their natural performance that they showed in the group stage and semifinals and leave the field with a win.

“The girls must play attacking football and press hard whenever the opposition lose the ball and finally grab opportunities with both hands whenever they are created. We are not thinking much about the opponents, to be honest,” said Choton, who guided the age-group team to AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championship victories twice, the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship triumph in 2017 and helped the Bangladesh U-16 women's team to become group champions during the AFC U-16 Women's Championship Qualifiers.

Choton hinted that he would field the same squad that beat Bhutan in the semifinal as the girls have had their final preparation at the Changlimithang Stadium yesterday morning.

Choton's India counterpart Firmin D'Souza is also confident of winning the title and exacting a measure of revenge for the last edition. 

“Bangladesh are the toughest team to face in the SAFF Championship and although we respect them, we will be going for the win and will try to score an early goal to cement our position in the match.

“We will certainly be looking to avenge our loss against them in last year's final. We have come a long way since then and are looking to give our hundred per cent on the pitch,” D'Souza was quoted as saying in India's official football website.