Home ›› 16 Sep 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh national Women’s team head coach Golam Rabbani Choton promised to come down with full capacity on Bhutan ahead of their semifinal clash of the Women’s SAFF Championship 2022 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal today.
The women in red and green are in flying form and will look to take their driving momentum to the match against Bhutan. Despite the brimming confidence in the Bangladesh camp, Choton assured that his troops are prepared but cautious ahead of the knockout game.
“Bhutan have played well to qualify for the semifinal. We respect them for that but we will come onto the field with all our strength and look to apply it. We will play our game and hopefully come away with a victory,” the head coach said in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“Everyone is focused and ready to play. My philosophy is simple. We have performed in the past three matches and will look to repeat that in the knockout game as well. We have had discussions about it, the girls know what they have to do and they are fully prepared for the semifinal,” he said.
Bangladesh’s best finish in the competition came in the 2016 edition when they lost 3-1 to India in the grand finale.
With aims of bettering their previous best, Bangladesh will undoubtedly go into the contest as the favourites. With 12 goals in the ongoing edition, they are the joint top-scorers with India and are yet to concede a single goal, keeping three straight clean sheets on their road to the semis.
Bangladesh skipper Sabina Khatun leads the scoring charts with five goals as she meets a familiar foe in Bhutan. In the 2010 edition staged in Bangladesh, the forward netted twice against Bhutan in the group stage.
More than a decade later, she has her sights on reaching Bangladesh’s second final but will have to overcome Bhutan, who left behind Sri Lanka to qualify for the semis. Despite the occasion, Sabina refused to let the pressure of the semi-final get to her and assured she would use her experience to come out on top.
“We are not taking any pressure. We respect the opposition because they have played well to come to the semifinal. We will play our usual game and look to achieve our target,” she said.
