U-15 women lose on penalties

Bangladesh’s dreams of regaining the title of SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship ended in a defeat in tiebreaker against India at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu yesterday.

Golam Rabbani Choton’s charges were beaten 5-3 on penalties after regulation time failed to produce a goal.

There was very little to choose between the two best teams of South Asia as both sides had collected same number of points in the group stages, including a goalless draw between the two sides. With one title each in the previous two editions, it was up to the teams to get ahead of each other.

The match proved to be a very cagey affair as neither side managed to assert their domination in midfield. There was very few goalscoring chances as both defences stood firm against opposition attacks, meaning the game rolled into penalty shootout after 90 minutes.

While India started the spot-kick clinically, Bangladesh skipper Shamsunnahar blasted the first spot-kick on to the crossbar. Bangladesh converted the next three spot kicks, but the Indians were on target on all five attempts, eventually taking the tiebreaker 5-3.