Bangladesh off to flying start with 7-0 rout of Bahrain

Bangladesh made a flying start to their AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign with a 7-0 thrashing of Group C opponents Bahrain in Yangon on Sunday, proving yet again that they are a far better side than what their lowly FIFA ranking of 128 suggests.

Peter Butler's charges dominated proceedings right from the word go, controlling play with crisp passing and measured build-up football against a physically superior Bahrain side, who are 36 places above them in FIFA rankings.

The women in red and green scored five goals in the first half before taking the foot off the gas a bit after restart, yet adding two more while managing to keep a clean sheet.

Tohura Khatun bagged a brace while Shamsunnahar Jr, Ritu Porna Chakma, Kohati Kisku and Munki Akter scored one apiece. The other was an own goal.

The big win sets up the women in red and green nicely for their crucial second match against group's top-ranked team, Myanmar (55), who handed an 8-0 defeat to Turkmenistan (141), the lowest ranked side, in the first match of the group earlier yesterday.

Only the top finishers will advance to the Women's Asian Cup, which will be held in Australia next year.

Butler, who has experimented quite a bit with his formation and style of play since taking charge in March last year, deployed a 3-5-2 system in this match, with Tohura and Shamsunnahar Jr operating as forwards.

But it was the partnership of Monika Chakma and Sapna Rani in the midfield that pulled the strings while Ritu Porna and Kohati operated diligently down the flanks, creating most of the scoring chances.

Sapna, the young No. 7 from Thakurgaon, set up the first two goals with two brilliant through-balls, with Shamsunnahar Jr finishing the first move with a decisive chip in the 10th minute before Ritu Porna doubled the scoreline with a bullet of a shot five minutes later.

The third goal took some time coming, but once it came, the floodgates opened. Kohati poked home from a goalmouth melee following a low cross from Maria Manda to make it 3-0 in the 40th minute. Tohura, dubbed the Lionel Messi of Kalshindur, then scored a quickfire brace in the stoppage time of the first half -- the first one with a powerful shot and the second one with a clever placing effort -- as the Bahrain players looked amateurish in the face of Bangladesh's enterprising football.

Bangladesh, who had never previously scored a goal at this level and lost all five of their matches in two previous campaigns, went through a number of changes in the second half, perhaps to preserve tiring legs ahead of the Myanmar game.

Yet Shamsunnahar Jr saw two attempts saved by Bahrain keeper from one-on-one situations early in the half before Rawan Alali's own goal on the hour-mark made the scoreline 6-0.

Substitute Munki Akter wrapped up the victory in the 74th minute with a fine effort while at the other end, Rupna Chakma made two excellent saves -- the only scoring chances for Bahrain -- to come out with a clean sheet for Bangladesh.

With an awe-inspiring win against a much higher-ranked opponent to start the campaign, Butler's charges will be full of confidence for their potentially decisive next match against the hosts on July 2.