Bangladesh one step away from silverware

Bangladesh continued their winning run in the Bangamata U-19 Women’s Gold Cup as they beat Mongolia 3-0 in the second semifinal at Bangabandhu National Stadium on Tuesday.

Bangladesh struggled to utilize their chances even though they dominated the match completely and is in clear need of better finishing in the final third, which has been a major issue for the hosts.

With the absence of their two regular players, Swapna and Krishna, Bangladesh failed to break the deadlock for almost 45 minutes despite several attempts on goal.

Sajeda failed to get a shot despite being in a one-on-one position with the opponent in the third minute and Sanjida Akter was unlucky in the 16^th minute as her shot rebounded off the post.

It needed a brilliant volley from Monika Chakma in the injury time of the first half to end the stalemate. Her powerful left-foot volley from just outside the box made a big Dhaka crowd ecstatic.

Bangladesh started the second half with the same intensity but failed to add their tally for a while as Tahura failed to take a shot from the box in the 52^nd minute while Maria Manda’s shot was parried away by Mongol keeper.

Marzia Khatun doubled the score in the 69^th minute when she received a through pass from Monika before putting the ball home, beating the keeper on her left. This was the first goal for her in the tournament.

Bangladesh scored their third goal in a rather fortuitous manner in the 85^th minute. Tahura received a ball from defender Samsunnahar before her shot was deflected off an opponent defender and changed its path and deceived the diving goalkeeper.

Bangladesh won their group matches by 2-0 and 2-1, respectively against United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan and got their third straight win in extreme hot and humid conditions. But they will face the biggest challenge in the final as they lock horns against Laos, the most in-form team of the tournament, on Saturday. Laos won their group matches against Mongolia and Tajikistan by 5-0 and 6-0, respectively before razing Kyrgyzstan 7-1 in the semi-finals.