Bangladesh regained the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship title with a comfortable 3-0 win over Nepal at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today. Shaheda Akter Ripa and captain Shamsunnahar scored the two goals within a space of four minutes of the first half before Unnoti Khatun put the final nail in Nepal’s coffin in the 87th minute of the match, played in front of an expectant home crowd. The win also stamped the dominance of Golam Rabbani Choton’s charges in women’s age-group football in the South Asian region with their fourth title in eight tournaments.
Ripa broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute, finding the far corner of the net with a curling effort from outside the box. She took her chance through a host of Nepal defenders even as Aklima Khatun was lying on the pitch inside the box following a collision against a Nepal player.
Captain Shamsunnahar doubled Bangladesh’s lead in the first minute of stoppage time following a small through-pass from Aklima after Nepal defender Pratiksha failed to clear a long ball.
Bangladesh spurned a number of half-chances throughout the game before Unnoti’s tap-in on Ripa’s freekick towards the end of the game sealed the triumph for the girls in red and green.