Omra-ching Marma and Sabina Khatun scored a brace each while Jahanara Janu, Suinu Pru Marma and Suravi Eti netted one apiece as Bangladesh women’s football team thrashed their Bhutanese counterparts 7-0 in the preparation match ahead of the first ever SAFF Women’s Football Championship at the Mohammadpur Physical Training Institute ground on Monday.
The Bangladeshi girls were looking more confident on the field than their earlier appearances against an amateur side like Bhutan who have a very little international experience.
The local girls started dominating their opponents from the very beginning and Omaraching scored the first goal in the fourth minute after the game started. She tucked home a Janu cross from the right flank to put her team ahead.
Sabina doubled the lead in the 17th minute from just outside the penalty area after a Suinu Pru forward pass.
Omraching and Sabina were very impressive throughout the match and the duo’s efforts paid off when Omraching found the net from a square pass by Sabina, who earlier penetrated into the rival penalty zone dashing past two Bhutanese defenders.
Janu’s solo effort made it 4-0 in the 55th minute as the nimble-footed booter rushed from the midfield and hit the back of the net with a powerful right-footer from the six-yard box.
Sabina scored her second goal and the fifth of her team in the 60th minute from Eti’s cutback into the box and Suinu Pru increased the margin seven minutes later with a long-range shot.
Eti sealed the victory scoring the seventh in the 72nd minute from a Maynu pass.
Bangladesh coach Golam Rabbani Chhotan was satisfied with his team’s performance. ‘My girls tried to play better than their earlier matches and I think they were successful. We worked hard to overcome the problems that we had and still there are a lot of places to work on but we are in a better condition now,’ said Chhoton.
When asked about his target in SAFF Championship, he said, ‘We will try our best to reach to the final.’
Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in their first match on December 13. The other teams of the group are India and Bhutan.
Hiroaki Matsyama, the Japanese coach of the Bhutanese side, blamed jetlag for their poor performance. ‘We landed last night and are playing today. My players could not perform according to their standard because of fatigue but they will do better in the tournament proper,’ said Matsyama.
