‘We want to play natural game and win’
Following an expected winning start in the SAFF Women's Championship 2022 as Bangladesh handed an emphatic 3-0 defeat to Maldives, the women in red and green appear determined to successfully pass their forthcoming hurdle against Pakistan in Nepal at 1:30pm BST today .
Before departing for Kathmandu, Bangladesh had expressed their desire to progress match by match to confirm their semi-final berth first -- before facing India in group's last match -- and today they will definitely be hoping to book a spot in the semi-finals with back-to-back victories in the tournament.
Bangladesh and Pakistan have never faced eachin the previous five editions of the regional women's tournament, or in any international match for that matter. At the age-level competitions in 2018 SAFF Championships, Bangladesh U-18s had beaten their Pakistani counterparts by an outrageous score-line of 17-0 -- a game in which striker Sirat Jahan Swapna netted as many as 7 goals.
The charges of Golam Rabbani Choton, though, can anticipate a tough challenge from Pakistan -- who really showed their character despite suffering a 3-0 defeat to five-time champions India, considering the women in green arrived at the international circuit for the first time in eight years following suspension from FIFA.
"We know Pakistan have some good players, with two of their players from abroad," said Bangladesh defender Masura Parvin on Thursday after the Bangladesh squad went through a recovery session following their victory over Maldives.
"Whoever is the opponent, our target has always been to play competitive matches in a bid to show a point that the girls in Bangladesh are not behind at international level," Masura added.
Masura, who struck one of the three goals against Maldives, wants to wait till the first 10 to 15 minutes to observe how Pakistan play and then decide on their strategy, similar to how Bangladesh had operated against Maldives.
Winger Sanjida Akhter said, "We have watched the India Pakistan game. We had got chances against Maldives, had we scored we would have got a bigger win.
"We have worked on that issue....if we can sort it out, we can get a big win again."
As far as Bangladesh are concerned, their forwards need to maintain their composure upfront and convert their chances to arrive at their peak form against a strong Indian side. Sanjida further said that she is not bothered about scoring but instead wants to contribute to goals, so that Bangladesh achieve their desired result.
"I have no regrets for not getting a goal [against Maldives]. I set up one for Sabina [Khatun] apu, and that is what I'm happy with. As a winger, my job is to create goals for others.
"We've won the first match, now we want to play our natural game and win against Pakistan," Sanjida concluded.
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