Flying Bangladesh look to overcome Pakistan

Bangladesh Women’s national football team, on the back of an emphatic 3-0 win in their Women’s SAFF Championship opener against Maldives, will be looking to overcome their hurdle against Pakistan at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal today.

Bangladesh face an unfamiliar foe in Pakistan in this competition as the two teams have never faced each other in the previous five editions of the tournament.

While Bangladesh thumped their opposition in their first match, Pakistan had to see the other side of the coin as they were on the receiving end of a 3-0 thrashing courtesy of five-time champions India.

Following the winning start, Bangladesh team manager Amirul Islam Babu urged the players to set their sights on beating Pakistan and that too with a considerable margin.

“All the players are motivated. Obviously winning the first match gives confidence but we have also instructed them to fixate their focus on the second match against Pakistan. We have trained today and put the onus on playing better than we did in the Maldives game. The girls are prepared for Pakistan. We also told them to keep in mind about winning by a considerable margin,” he said on Friday.

After the Maldives mauling on Wednesday, Bangladesh left a lot of goals on the pitch as they failed to provide clinical finishes on numerous occasions despite creating a lot of chances.

Midfielder Maria Manda pointed out that aspect and asserted that she had more goals on her mind for the next game.

“Our target was to win the first match. We have achieved it and have shifted our focus to the second match. Now our target is to play better against Pakistan than we did in the Maldives game and to score good goals,” she said.

“We created a lot of chances in the first match but couldn’t capitalise on those chances. We want to rectify that and score more goals,” the midfielder added.

Before the first match, Bangladesh skipper Sabina Khatun assured the fans that they would see a different Bangladesh on the pitch. She said the style of football that they play, an organised and structured one, would be more evident, and people would soon forget the football Bangladesh played in 2016.

Bangladesh’s best finish in the tournament came in 2016 in India, where the hosts bettered Bangladesh 3-1 in the final.

Centre-back Masura Parvin, who scored Bangladesh’s second goal on Wednesday, also walked along the same lines of confidence.

“Whomever the opponent may be, our target is to always play competitive football. Our girls are no longer behind anyone. We want to continue to play our game irrespective of the result,” she said.

Masura also revealed how they followed a constant change in tactical shifts in their Maldives clash. The defender said that her team adapted to what Maldives were trying to do and responded accordingly.

“In the Maldives game, we wanted to see what they were looking to do. After that, we figured out how to respond and played more along the ground instead of using long balls. We changed our decisions accordingly and will look to do the same against Pakistan. Our target is to beat Pakistan and qualify for the semifinals. We’ll see about the rest,” she said.