Improvement in defeat

Bangladesh put up a much improved performance against Japan but ultimately suffered a 3-0 defeat, which is a reasonable margin considering the strength of the opposition and their performance in the last match, in their second match of the AFC U-16 Women's Championship at the Institute of Physical Education Stadium in the Thai province of Chonburi Thailand yesterday.

Bangladesh made two changes to the squad that lost 9-0 to North Korea in the first fixture with goalkeeper Mahmuda Akter and midfielder Monica Chakma replacing Ruksana Begum and defender Nargis Khatun respectively. The girls in red and green looked confident throughout the encounter after shrugging off the nerves early on.

It was greatly encouraging to watch the girls begin to connect their passes, in addition to sporadically going on the attack. The five at the back also managed to block Japanese attackers halfway through the pitch and pressed forward when Bangladesh had possession in the final third.

The decision to restore Akhi Khatun to centre-back proved an inspired one as she along with Masura Parvin, Shamsunnahar, Sheuli Azim and Sanjida Akter hardly buckled under the Japanese pressure, keeping the a clean sheet for the remaining 51 minutes after conceding the third and last goal in the 39th minute.

Japan proved to be less formidable than North Korea as Bangladesh managed to keep pace physically. On the other hand, lone striker Israt Jahan Shopna was presented with a couple of long balls from midfield but Shopna was not quick enough to race past the Japanese players.

Japan coach Kusunose Noaki made eight changes to the squad that thrashed Australia 5-0 and yet they were still far ahead of Bangladesh, especially in the attacking third where they held possession superbly and consequently struck two goals during the first half by outmanoeuvring the offside trap after initially taking the lead through a well-worked free kick.

Japan broke the deadlock in the 12th minute through Tomoko Tanaka, who struck a brace against Australia, when the unmarked forward drove a shot home from just inside the box by availing a grounded free-kick. The lead was then doubled in the 31st minute by Moe Nakae, who raced into the box and placed the ball to right-hand side of Mahmuda.

The three-time champions again pierced the Bangladesi backline to make it 3-0 as Yuzuki Yamamoto capitalized on the large gap between the defenders, who were practically at the centre-line, and Mahmuda by availing a forward pass.

However, Bangladesh then elected to defend a bit deeper in a bid to thwart coming attacks with first-choice Mahmuda putting up a brilliant performance. Mahmuda was superb even in one-on-one situations and went on to deny the Japanese forwards around four to five times.

One could consider this defeat as a step forward if one remembers the 24-0 humiliation Bangladesh suffered at the hands of Japan during the inaugural edition of the AFC U-17 Women's Championship in 2005.