Ritu should be playing somewhere better: Butler

Bangladesh women's team head coach Peter Butler heaped praise on his lynchpin forward Ritu Porna Chakma, backing her to achieve greater things, following her standout performance in the historic 2-1 win over Myanmar, which secured Bangladesh a place in the AFC Women's Asian Cup for the very first time.

Ritu, a two-time SAFF winner, delivered a dazzling display at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, stunning the raucous home crowd with a thumping left-footed strike from outside the box in the first half to open the scoring before doubling the lead in the second with a spectacular effort from a peculiar angle on the left flank, again from outside the box.

Myanmar got one back late in the game but Ritu Porna's brace was enough to take the women in red and green through against a side who are 73 places higher than 128th-ranked Bangladesh in the FIFA rankings.

Impressed by her performance, Butler backed Ritu's ability to succeed at higher levels of competition, especially considering that she has already topped the competition at South Asian level.

"This girl [Ritu Porna] has the ability to play at a much higher level. I think everybody knows that," Butler said during the post-match press conference.

Ritu, along with several of her Bangladesh teammates, played in the Bhutan Women's League this season, representing Paro FC. With no domestic league currently available for women in Bangladesh, players like Ritu have had to seek opportunities to keep playing. It is worth noting that the 2022 SAFF winning squad had to wait for almost 10 months before playing an international match after their triumph.

 "It's just unfortunate that we've not had a league in Bangladesh and she's had to go to Bhutan to play domestic football. She should be playing in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East or somewhere that has a better standard than the one she's performing at.

"She's a cheeky, soft girl, who has got lots of ability. She's still young and the world's her oyster. I really hope she moves on and goes to somewhere bigger and better because she deserves it," Butler added.

Ritu, who also scored in Bangladesh's tournament opener against Bahrain on Sunday, has become a central figure in Bangladesh's attacking setup, emerging as a forward with flair and an eye for the spectacular. The 21-year-old played a pivotal role in Bangladesh's SAFF Championship title defence earlier this year, where she was named Player of the Tournament. She also scored a memorable goal in the final against Nepal -- a strike that closely resembled her second against Myanmar.