Under-20 head coach Maruful Haque has dedicated Bangladesh’s maiden SAFF U-20 Men’s Championship trophy to those who sacrificed their lives during the student movement since last month.
“On behalf of all (team), we dedicate this championship trophy to those who sacrificed their lives during student protest in the last month and also this month,” said Maruful at the post-match conference.
Bangladesh handed hosts Nepal a crushing 4-1 defeat in the final Wednesday.
They lost to the same opponent in the group stage by 2-1 margin.
Maruful’s side also had only a day to prepare for the final after beating holders India in the penalty shootout Monday.
“We had only a day to recover after the semi-final. I told the players to start the game slowly. After 12-15 minutes I saw the opponents taking pressure so I changed the strategy and switched to attacking mode,” Maruful added.
Bangladesh got their first goal on the stroke of the first half whistle through a wonderful free-kick from Mirajul Islam who doubled the lead soon after the break.
Rabby Hossain Rahul and Piash Ahmed Nova added two more in the latter stage including one in stoppage time.