LALITPUR: Bangladesh and India advanced to the SAFF U-16 Championship semi-finals after the former defeated Sri Lanka 3-1 in the Group ‘B’ match today.The second successive loss meant Sri Lanka crashed out of the tournament. The match between India and Bangladesh on Thursday will decide the group winners and runners-up. Skipper Tutul Hosain Badsha scored a brace and Torikul Islam added one for Bangladesh, while SS Niresh scored for Sri Lanka.
Skipper Badsha put Bangladesh ahead in the 28th minute converting a 20-yard freekick, awarded after Al Amin Tushar was adjudged to have fouled by Sri Lankan captain Ranju Silva at the edge of the area. A notable chance for Sri Lanka to level the scores came after 41 minutes but Sachintha Maduranga ended up firing wide in an open net with Bangladeshi goalkeeper Pappu Hossain already beaten.
Niresh made sure Sri Lanka would go into break on level terms scoring a sensational goal from 30 yards out two minutes later. Bangladesh came close to restoring their lead in the 55th minutes only to see Sri Lankan goalkeeper KAB Prabath make a finger-tip save to punch out a powerful Torikul strike.
The relentless Bangladeshi pressure finally told when unmarked skipper Badsha headed in a Mohammed Shaun Hossain’s right flank freekick two minutes later. Torikul then sealed the victory scoring from the area in one-on-one with Prabath utilising a sublime pass from Mithun Sarker.
Bangladesh coach Koster Rene praised the performance of his side. “I am happy to make it to through but my boys need to work on keeping the ball possession for even greater period,” said the coach. He said that except for Nepal, all the other teams are not playing constructive football.
Sri Lankan coach Nimal Wijesekara said that his boys gave their best but lost to a better team. The coach believed that his boys got a good exposure from this tournament.
Nepal will take on defending champions Pakistan in their final Group ‘A’ match of the SAFF U-16 Championships at the Dasharath Stadium today.
All four teams in the group have chances to make it to the semis. The host, who humbled Bhutan 7-0 and played a 1-1 stalemate with Afghanistan, are at the top with four points. Afghans and Pakistan are tied on two points with the former holding second spot on superior number of goals scored. Bhutan are at the bottom of the table with one point.
A draw against Pakistan will be enough for the hosts to earn a place in semis, while all the other teams need clear win. But Nepal coach Bal Gopal Maharjan said he will be going for an outright victory. “We want to finish as group winners and for that we need victory. Observing their game, I have come to the conclusion that we are capable of beating them,” said the coach. He also said he has devised plans to deal with some physically imposing Pakistani players. – The Himalayan
