The young female footballers continued to shine bright in the international stage as they clinched two more trophies this year, scoring bagful of goals, before representing the senior side in perhaps 2018’s toughest assignment – the Olympics Qualifiers at the end of the year.
Almost the same group of female footballers from the BFF camp who represented the U-15, U-16 and U-18 national teams became unbeaten champion in the four-nation international tournament in Hong Kong, the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in Dhaka and the Saff U-18 Championship in Bhutan.
The same players, with the only inclusion of captain Sabina Khatun, represented the senior team in a more competitive 2020 Tokyo Olympics Asian qualifiers in Myanmar and met some most difficult contests on the pitch this year.
They however, gathered valuable experience ahead of next year’s Saff Championship in Nepal.
The Bangladesh football team transformed themselves from an out-of-contention position to a notably improved side through different vital competitions and training camps throughout the year, while the young booters proved their dominance in south Asiahttps://t.co/nORW77f51n#BFF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 29, 2018
It must be said though that the Bangladesh girls scored more goals this year.
It started with U-15 side who scored 24 goals against Malaysia, Iran and host Hong Kong before registering four wins against Vietnam, Lebanon, the UAE and Bahrain in the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers without conceding any.
The girls continued their scoring spree in the Saff U-18 Championship in Bhutan.
Starting with the 17-0 thrashing against Pakistan, Bangladesh beat tournament’s other favourites Nepal twice, including the final, netting a total of 24 goals and conceding only one.
Abahani Limited lift their sixth premier league crown in 10 attempts with a remarkable comeback in the second phase of the title race.https://t.co/KIkkB2mQKq#FOOTBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHFOOTBALL #ABAHANI #LIMITED #ABAHANILIMITED #SKYBLUES #BFF #BANGLADESHFOOTBALLTEAM
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 29, 2018
The young booters conceded their first defeat (1-0) against Uzbekistan in the AFC U-19 Championships Qualifiers, before playing out a goalless draw against the host Tajikistan, who eventually finished top of the group.
The wins against Nepal and Maldives however, were not enough to reach the next round.
The women’s team participated for the Olympics Qualifiers after seven years and experienced some of their toughest challenges there.
They suffered tough defeats against two senior-dominated favourites, India and host Myanmar, but their first ever point in the competition during the creditable draw against Nepal saw an end to their journey on a positive note.
