AFC U-16 Championship: Bangladesh girls begin with 9-0 loss

Bangladesh football girls struggled against the world champion in their opening match of the 2017 AFC U16 Women’s Championship as they conceded a 9-0 defeat against the two-time winner North Korea at Chonburi Stadium in Thailand on Monday. North Korea, the defending champion of both the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship and Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup, dominated the entire game. The young Bangladesh girls found it hard to get their usual pace and rhythm but what was more unusual was a bit of tiredness showing in their body language. At the same time, a few have questioned team management’s decision to hold a 45-minute practice session in the morning on the matchday, hours before kick off. North Korea opened the scoring with only five minutes into the clock before doubling the lead just three minutes later. Both the goals were netted by forward Kim Kyong-yong, one from a header and the other from a simple tap-in. Kim later went on to bag a brilliant hat-trick before going on to net two more.

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Also read: Bangladesh girls arrive in Thailand

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Captain Ri Su-gyong scored a brace, one at the half-hour mark and the other in injury time. Kim Yun-ok and Yun Jhi-hwa added one each to complete the rout. Bangladesh conceded at least two goals from blunders from goalkeeper Ruksana Begum, who started between the posts ahead of the experienced and regular custodian Mahmuda. Mahmuda came off the bench to replace Ruksana a minute before the hour mark but by that time, the damage had already been done as North Korea had already scored seven goals. North Korea extended their unbeaten run in the tournament to 14 matches. Bangladesh will play their second Group B match against three-time champion Japan at IPE Stadium in Chonburi on Thursday.Bangladesh playing XIRuksana Begum (Mahmuda); Sheuli Azim, Shamsunnahar, Nargis Khatun (Ratna Jahan), Masura Parvin; Moushumi Jahan (Monika), Maria Manda, Sanjida Akhter, Akhi Khatun; Srimoti Krishna Rani Sarkar and Sirat Jahan Shopna