Home ›› 08 Sep 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh skipper Sabina Khatun scored a brace as they brushed aside Maldives in a 3-0 win in their Women’s SAFF Championship 2022 opener at the Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal on Wednesday.
Sabina promised organised football before the match, and the girls in red and green delivered a treat for the fans as they produced well-structured, attacking football in their 3-0 thumping, with two goals from Sabina and one from Masura Parvin.
Bangladesh were right at it from the outset. They had an uber-attacking mindset and pinned Maldives back with fluid possession in the opposition’s half.
In the first 10 minutes, all three Bangladesh forwards- Skipper Sabina Khatun, Srimoti Sarker, and Mosammat Jahan Shopna- had multiple goal attempts but couldn’t find the clinical finish.
It was one-way traffic from the Bangladesh side as Maldives failed to find the foothold in the first half but Sabina and company were yet to show their dominance on the score line.
Bangladesh finally broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, courtesy of Sabina, whose long ranger totally wrong-footed the Maldives goalkeeper as she stumbled to make ground in time.
The midfield duo- Maria Manda and Monika Chakma- showed guile and fluidity in midfield as they pulled strings in every Bangladesh attack.
Bangladesh, who couldn’t manage a goal in the first 30 minutes, were able to double their lead just three minutes later. This time it was Masura with space behind the back line. Monika unlocked the defence with a nestling through ball as Masura made no mistake to find the net with her left foot.
Things went from bad to worse for Maldives as they went 3-0 behind in the 40th minute when Sabina netted her second. Maria’s left-footed curler from 30 yards forced a save out of Maldives goalkeeper Aminath Leeza but a vigilant Sabina was quick to pounce on the rebound as she placed it past the keeper.
Though Maldives offered very little in terms of attacking, they managed to hold off Bangladesh in the second half with their low-block defending.
Similar to the first 45 minutes, Bangladesh dominated possession, playing almost the entirety of their football inside the Maldives half. They couldn’t quite replicate their first-half exploits in terms of chances created but the match was firmly in Bangladesh’s grip, and Maldives never really looked like challenging Bangladesh on any level.
It could’ve been the perfect night for Sabina as she found the net in the 81st minute from a cross but the flag went up for offside.
Bangladesh, who were pitted in Group A along with India, Pakistan, and Maldives, will now take on Pakistan in their second match at the same venue on Saturday.
