AFC Women’s Futsal: Bengal girls show promise despite loss
Bangkok: Bangladesh national women’ futsal team lost 6-1 to Chinese Taipei at Huamark Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Sabina and company fought well against a formidable opponent like Chinese Taipei who have more senior and experienced players in their squad.
The age and experience paid dividends for the Chinese Taipei side scoring four first half goals.
With their progression to the second round looking likely going into the match, Chinese Taipei made a dream start when Bangladesh goalkeeper Rupna Chakma deflected Chung Yi-hsuan’s cross into her own net in the first minute.
They doubled the lead two minutes later when Lin Ya-hui was given far too much time and space, and took full advantage by slamming ball into the roof of the net from five metres.
Tang Yung-ching put Chinese Taipei in a commanding position when her speculative low free-kick went through a sea of legs to make it 3-0 after 10 minutes.
The Red and Greens created enough chances to be competitive, but lack of clinical finishing let them down as Sanjida Akhter and Maria both missed sitters, before Wang Shu-wen made it 4-0 at half time.
However, the Bengal girls came out firing after the break and got their goal when an excellent run by Maria created a chance for Captain Sabina Khatun, who fired home from three metres in the 23rd minute.
The skipper almost scored another just seconds later, but Bangladesh’s rising momentum suffered a blow when a Sheuli Azim error opened the door for Kuo Tsu-erh to make it 5-1 with a simple close-range finish.
Lin Ya-hui scored Taipei’s 6th goal with 10 minutes remaining.
Later on, some committed Bangladeshi defending kept the scoreline from expanding further.
Reflecting on the match, Bangladesh Head Coach Golam Rabbani Choton said, “Today I think our girls showed what they learned in the first two matches. We have a lot of talented players here, but they’re new to futsal. I think they’re becoming a good futsal team. They are becoming more confident and today we had four or five great chances. I think they did very well.”
Chinese Taipei Head coach Chang Yao-Ming also praised the young girls of Bangladesh for putting in a good show and predicted a bright future for them.
Apart from the valuable game time and experience gathered by the players, Bangladesh’s biggest achievement is seeing team captain and country’s best footballer Sabina Khatun named among the top three players of the group stage of the competition.
