Bangladesh concede defeat in AFC Futsal opener

Bangladesh's debut in the AFC Women's Futsal Championship ended in disappointment as they conceded a 7-1 defeat against Malaysia in their first Group B match in Bangkok, Thailand Wednesday. Bangladesh women footballers, who had never participated in any futsal tournament before except Sabina Khatun, went ahead in the game in the third minute when Masura Parvin struck home from the second penalty mark following a kick-in by Sabina. The delight lasted for less than a minute however as Hanis equalised following a series of passes into the right. Zurain Kamarudin scored in similar fashion to give Malaysia the lead moments later. The AFC reported that Bangladesh had a few runs that could have led to a goal, but their lack of competitive experience gave Malaysia enough time to react defensively. Malaysia's Siti Asnidah Zamri, Nur Shazreen Munazli and Siti Nur Atiqah Rashid scored one each before going into the break before Atiqah Rashid scored her second two minutes into the second half. Nur Shazreen made it 7-1 in the final seven seconds. Bangladesh face Vietnam in their second group match Friday. Following the game, Bangladesh head coach Golam Rabbani Choton said, "This is the first time we played at a futsal ground. We lost the game because our girls are not familiar with this new futsal game. And also, we did not play well in the first half. However, our girls now have idea about the mistakes they have committed. They will recover in the next match." Malaysia head coach Azwan Bin Zainal said, "Bangladesh are a good team. They have good individuals and skills but the team are less experienced in this game."