Laos stormed into the final of the Bangamata U-19 Women’s Gold Cup final as they earned a resounding 7-1 victory in the first semifinal of the tournament against Kyrgyzstan at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Laos’s midfielder Pe emerged as the most prolific scorer as she scored a hattrick and kept her team’s winning run intact. Laos beat Mongolia and Tajikistan with the margin of 5-0 and 6-0 respectively in their group A matches.
Bangladesh, the other undefeated side of the tournament, will lock horns with Mongolia in the second semifinal today at the same venue. Bangladesh beat United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan by 2-0 and 2-1 in their respective group B matches.
The winner of today’s match will face Laos on Friday for the title decider.
On Monday, Pe broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when she beat the opponents’ goalkeeper in the near post. During the 22nd minute, she received a ball in the opponents’ half and controlled it by evading the offside trap before sending the ball home with a long range shot to make it 2-0.
Kyrgyzstan reduced the margin with an Askarova goal in the dying moments of the first half and they were expected to show stronger resolve in the second half.
But Laos intensified their game even more after the break and struck two quick goals in the gap of four minutes at 53rd and 57th minute to make the score 4-1. Another goal in the 74th minute gave them an unassailable 5-1 lead.
Pe completed her hat-trick in the 86th minute when she dodged past the goalkeeper to place the ball under bars. Laos received a penalty in the last minute of the match which was converted successfully to make the score line 7-1.
