Prolific striker Sabina Khatun who scored three goals in the first ever SAFF Women’s Football Championship at seaside town Cox’s Bazar, won a laptop after she was adjudged as the best player for Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Sabina, a schoolgirl of class ten from Satkhira, wanted to be a cricketer in her childhood but ironically she is now officially the best female footballer of the country.
‘I always wanted to be a cricketer and football was my second choice. I started playing formal football for the first time when I was listed in the school team as a champion athlete,’ said Sabina.
The 5 feet 2 inches forward did not look back after her first appearance in the local school football tournament. Satkhira regional team’s coach Akbar Hossain chose her for the district squad before national women’s championship in 2009 where she first made her name.
Sabina, who belongs to a typical middle-class Muslim family, got full support from her relatives.
‘I used to play different games with neighbouring boys in the field in front of our house. My parents always appreciated my sporty attitude. So, they did not refuse when I was called in the national camp for the first time in 2009,’ remarked Sabina.
Sabina is very glad to be the country’s best footballer though the money she is being paid by the Bangladesh Football Federation made her hardly satisfied.
‘We represent our nation in international stage but we are paid very lowly. It is very poor compared to our male counterparts,’ Sabina said.
The rich vein of form has earned Sabina an offer from Sheikh Jamal for the upcoming Women’s Club Cup Football to be held early next year, which may compensate her financially somehow.
