SAFF U18 begins with Bangladesh fireworks
Thimpu, September 18: Bangladesh have started their SAFF U-18 Championship campaign in Thimpu with a tremendous fightback to beat regional powerhouse India 4-3 in the opening match in Bhutan on Monday.
The red and greens seemed lost in the first half, conceding three goals and not managing to find the opponent’s net.
However, the youngsters had an incredible fightback, when striker Jafar Iqbal and defender Rahmat Mia managed quick counter attacks and scored in fast pace.
Head coach Roxy, in charge of the youngsters, commented in the post-match press conference, saying that he has never seen team Bangladesh come back after conceding 2 goals. “It was brilliant. The boys managed to execute our game strategy in the second half. They perfectly carried out the manoeuvres and our set pieces worked out accurately.”
Roxy adds that the boys had an advantage with the wind in the stadium, and thanked the Almighty for such a win.
With this win, Bangladesh managed to get full three points from the first match of this round-robin format tournament, which has 5 South Asian teams competing.
Team manager Amirul Islam Babu said the boys successfully carried out the instructions given by the Coach advisor Andrew Ord and Head Coach Roxy. “We made history and we will not stop before making some more which is to return Bangladesh holding the championship Trophy.”
The manager thanked the fans for their support.
Three years ago, the Bangladesh U-16 team had managed to beat India in the SAFF Championship in Sylhet, and with Monday’s win, the red and greens beat India for the second time in age-group level competitions.
