Litu pleased despite draw

Bangladesh coach Mahbubur Rahman Litu expressed his satisfaction over the performance of his charges despite seeing them concede a stoppage time equaliser against Nepal in their FIFA friendly fixture at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

Bangladesh took a 65th-minute lead through skipper Sabina Khatun, but Sabitra Bhandari's 91st-minute equaliser denied the hosts their second win over the women from the Himalayas in what was Bangladesh's first match since their historic 3-1 win against the same opposition in the final of the SAFF Women's Championship in September last year.

Litu, who has been handed the responsibility to guide the team following long-time coach Golam Rabbani Choton's resignation, felt that the team did reasonably well despite missing a number of key players and coaching staff.

Apart from Choton, BFF's technical director Paul Smalley and fitness trainer Ivan Razlog were not with the team while key players like Sirat Jahan Swapna and Akhi Khatun had already left the team.

"I was given the responsibility and it was a challenge for me," Litu said at the post-match press conference. "I'm not giving any excused but as you know we were missing a number of players while some of them played with injuries. So I believe they played very well."

Litu handed senior debuts to youngsters like Afeida Khandaker, Matsushima Sumaya and Shaheda Akter Ripa, with the latter beautifully setting up Sabina's goal, threading a through-pass for the captain from in between a couple of opposition players which Sabina finished off expertly.

The captain should have wrapped up the victory when she ran on to Tohura Khatun's header 10 minutes later, but the veteran striker wasted too much time on the ball to allow Nepal goalkeeper Anjila Tumbabo Subba to clear the danger. And the team had to pay for that error as Sabitra, who was the top-scorer in the Indian women's league this year, scored from a goalmouth melee as Bangladesh endured some nervy moments towards the end.

Litu felt that there might have been some fatigue in play for the Bangladesh players, who were playing their first match in almost 10 months while Nepal had played four matches during this time.

"Had Sabina scored that goal, the game would have been over. It was bad luck for us," Litu said. "There wasn't a lack of focus but perhaps a bit of fatigue towards the end. Those who were new will play better if given more chances."

Litu hoped that Bangladesh can beat Nepal, ranked 39 places above them, in the second and final match of the series, which will take place at the same venue on Sunday.