'SAFF loss made us stronger'

Bangladesh under-15 women's football team, who went to Bhutan as the defending champions of the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship last month, had cruised to the final with some dominant performances. But they were undone by a dogged Indian side in the final, a defeat which was as surprising as it was saddening for the team.

After emerging champions of Group F of the AFC Women's U-16 Championship with a final matchday win over a strong Vietnam side yesterday, both the Bangladesh coach and players said that the defeat against India only made them stronger.

Striker Saraban Tohura, who was brilliant yesterday, scoring a goal and having three other attempts disallowed, said she was happy to have ended up on the winning side.

“I was the top-scorer in the SAFF Championship, but I was very sad because we lost the final. Today I'm very happy. I have no sorrows about not getting many goals, the important thing is we won,” the girl from Kalshindur, Mymensingh told reporters after the victory.

Coach Golam Rabbani Choton shared the same sentiment, saying they had this determination to win the group since losing against India.

“The girls have learnt from their mistakes. They have improved in every match” Choton said. “In fact this result is redemption for the final defeat against India in Bhutan. The girls worked hard to achieve this and they have only grown better since then.”

The veteran coach, who has guided the age-level women's teams to many successes over the past four years, however, could not hide his frustration regarding the match officials, especially over the first disallowed goal from Tohura.

“This has been happening against us for long. I have protested many times in the past, but they [AFC and SAFF officials] say the referees are right. I was even warned of being expelled from the ground in Bhutan.  That's why I have stopped protesting against these things,” said a frustrated Choton.

The coach does not have time to fret over these issues though as he will take the under-18 team to Bhutan again in two days' time for the SAFF U-18 Women's Championship. That squad will feature 13 players from the under-15 squad, and the coach believes this victory will motivate them do well in that tournament.