Difference was tactical and technical: Medved

Fans have become accustomed to scintillating performances from Bangladesh's women's football teams over the past five to six years, especially when in age-group tournaments comprising South Asian nations, but an entirely different scenario unfolded yesterday as Bangladesh were handed a 0-3 drubbing by Russia in the SAFF U-17 Women's Championship at the Shaheed Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Stadium.

Bangladesh simply found it too tough to handle Russia yesterday.

The margin may still be flattering considering it was a lopsided match-up between an Asian team and a European team, but Russia had the upper hand in every department, showing better technique, tactical understanding, skill and stamina.

Bangladesh are used to playing in the attacking third but yesterday they were against the ropes as Russia's aggressive press kept Bangladesh from building up from the back.

"I said before that Russia are ahead of Bangladesh in terms of physique, technique and experience, which I think made the difference. But I believe the girls learned a lot from this match," head coach Golam Rabbani Choton said. "The girls started poorly because they were under pressure but they played better as the match progressed."

Choton also believed the experience would help strengthen his team's mentality ahead of other SAFF and AFC competitions. He also opined that the team would have performed better had they been training together for five-six years instead of two.

Russia coach Elena Medved was impressed by Bangladesh's performance and was happy to get off to a winning start.

"The match was so difficult because we had some plans but we could not implement them. But we are happy with the win," said Medved. "There was difference in tactical preparation and technique as well but we can see that Bangladesh are working closely on technical aspects."