The current SAFF women’s champions Bangladesh won the two-match FIFA Friendly Series 2-0, beating hosts Bhutan 4-2 in a closely fought second game at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu Saturday evening.
The series against the Himalayan nation was part of Bangladesh's preparation for the upcoming SAFF Women’s Championship 2024 to be held in Nepal in October.
This was the fourth consecutive victory for Bangladesh against Bhutan after a 2-0 win in the 2019 SAFF Women’s Championship at Biratnagar in Nepal, 8-0 thrashing in Kathmandu in 2022 en route to their first ever SAFF Women’s Championship title, and a 5-1 triumph in the first friendly last Wednesday.
In that match, the youthful Bangladesh team fell behind but soon assumed one-way traffic in a flying start, outplaying the hosts 5-1 at the same venue, featuring a hat-trick by Mosammat Sagorika.
Saturday's clash between new English head coach Peter James Butler-guided Bangladesh and Bhutanese women's side was locked 2-2 going into the first half.
Like the previous encounter Wednesday, Bangladesh won the match coming from behind.
This time Bangladesh were forced to field a youthful team without key players like Tohura Khatun, Shamsunnahar Jr, Afeida Khondakar and Shaheda Akter Ripa for HSC exam and Krishna Rani Sarkar and Aklima Khatun for injury.
Earlier, Bangladesh, under the new British head coach Butler, played a two-match series in Dhaka against Chinese Taipei last May-June and lost both the games 0-4 and 0-1 respectively.
