Saff U-15 Championship: Bangladesh begin campaign with resounding victory

Bangladesh U-15 football team kicked off the inaugural Saff U-15 Championship with a flying 4-0 win over Sri Lanka in the tournament’s first ever match at ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Nepal on Friday. Forward Faysal Ahmed stole the show with a spectacular hat-trick while Nazmul Biswas added the other to set the foundation of a comfortable victory, which almost ensured a semi-final berth for the junior booters. The junior men in red and green kept the Sri Lanka defence busy throughout the game with continuous attacks, dominating the game with majority ball possession.Apart from the goals, Bangladesh were denied by the sidepost and woodwork in the 72nd and 80th minute respectively. Faisal gave the breakthrough in the 28th minute, placing home into the top right corner with a brilliant strike from the left side of the penalty area, giving Sri Lanka goalkeeper Gihan Sandeepa no chance. It was Faisal again as Bangladesh doubled the lead four minutes later. The Sri Lankan keeper had little to do when Faisal’s grounder from the edge of the box entered the net through the bottom right corner.A minute before the end of the opening half, Nazmul extended the lead with a lovely strike, followed by a free-kick from outside the box that went through top right corner. Miraj Molla exhibited his talent with a bicycle effort from the middle of the penalty area in the 54th minute but he was unlucky to see his strike hit the sidepost. Faisal completed his treble in the 74th minute from a penalty after Yeasin Arafat was brought down by an opposition defender inside the box. Faisal placed the ball into the bottom left corner from the spot, sending the custodian the other way.This is the first time the Saff U-15 Championship is being held, which is also a part of all the teams’ preparation for the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers, scheduled to be held later this year. Bangladesh, who are defending champion of the last Saff U-16 Championship in 2015, will take on Bhutan in their second and last Group A match on Tuesday at the same venue. Sri Lanka will face the same opponent on Sunday and if Bhutan win, Bangladesh will move to the last four even before their last group match.Bangladesh U-15 starting XIEmon Hawlader; Nazmul Biswas (Runi Haider), Yeasin Arafat (Rony Kumar), Jehad Hossain, Sadekuzzaman Fahim, Akkas Ali, Faysal Ahmed, Mohammad Sheikh Raja, Shadin Karim (Habibur Rahman), Uzzal Hossain and Miraj Molla  RESULTBangladesh U-15 4 (Faisal 28, 32, 74 - P, Nazmul 44) 0 Sri Lanka U-15