The Bangladesh U-16 women's football team returned home on Monday (Mar 11) with a head high after winning the crown of the just concluded SAFF U-16 Women's Championship in Nepal. A Bangladesh Biman flight, carrying the women's football team, landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:30 p.m., said a press release.
AFC council member and Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) executive member and chairperson of the committee for women's football Mahfuza Akhtar Kiran, BFF executive committee member Md Nurul Islam (Nuru), BFF general secretary Imran Hussain Tushar and other members of the committee for women's football welcomed the victorious Bangladesh team at the airport.
Team Bangladesh continued their victory in the age-based competition of South Asia. The women in red and green jointly won the title in the SAFF U-19 tournament last month and regained the SAFF U-16 tournament title, beating India in a penalty shootout in the final match in Nepal.
The nail-biting final match, Bangladesh beat India by 3-2 in the tiebreaker after regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw held in Kathmandu on Sunday (Mar 10). Goalkeeper Yarjan Begum stole the show, stopping three attempts by India out of five shots.
The girls in red and green remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and went to the final with an all-win record, including a 3-1 win over their final opponents in the round-robin stage and winning back the SAFF title which they had first won in 2017.
Bangladesh also blanked Nepal 2-0 in their opening round-robin stage match and thrashed Bhutan by 6-0 goals.
Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hassan Papon in a congratulatory message said the girls beat mighty India to win the title of SAFF champion. The Tigresses have once again proved their mettle by maintaining their supremacy in South Asia. Undoubtedly, this is a unique milestone in the history of women's football in the country.
