Bangladesh won their first point in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Asian qualifiers women’s football qualifiers Tuesday against Nepal with a creditable draw.
The team, consisted mainly of age-level players, ended with a hard fought 1-1 in their last match of Group C at Thuwunna Stadium in Rangoon, Myanmar.
U-16 youngster Akhi Khatun’s last-gasp equaliser also earned Bangladesh their first draw against Nepal at the senior level.
Last time when Bangladesh played in the Olympics qualifiers in 2011 they lost both their group stage matches against India and Uzbekistan by the same 3-0 margin.
Nepal, who drew against favourite Myanmar and India in their other two matches, went ahead early in the game through the goal of Niru Thapa in the 17th minute before centre-back Akhi scored in 92nd minute.
'Our time will come' https://t.co/0rjKsC85CX#Bangladesh #women’s #football crashed down to reality at a much more competitive senior level after conceding big-margin defeats in both their #Olympics #qualifying matches.
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 12, 2018
Bangladesh’s young defenders went through a tough campaign, especially in their previous two matches conceding 12 goals against Myanmar and India.
However, they finished with a positive tone as Akhi’s goal would inspire the team for future build-ups.
That positivity was founded with head coach Golam Rabbani Choton.
“It’s a special day. Every time we played against Nepal’s senior side before we lost all of them. The girls made history with their first ever draw against Nepal with a brave display. It was the sign of their improvement over the last few years,” said Choton after the game.
Meanwhile, Nepal made it to the second round of the qualifiers as one of the third-best finishers among four groups.
Bangladesh national women’s team continued to face the bitter reality of playing at senior level as they conceded yet another big-margin loss in the first round of the Tokyo @Olympics Asian qualifiers with a 7-1 loss against India in Myanmar Sunday.https://t.co/QY8LR8ozEl#BFF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 11, 2018
India and Myanmar also moved to the next round from the same group.
Bangladesh exit with only a point.
The Bangladesh contingent is scheduled to return home Wednesday afternoon.
RESULT
Bangladesh 1 (Akhi 90+2) 1 Nepal (Niru 17)
