Defending champions Bangladesh smartly reached the semifinal of the SAFF U-15 Championship as Group A champions with all-win record beating Bhutan by 3-0 goals in the last group match at the ANFA Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal on Tuesday.
Bangladesh will play the first semifinal on Friday (Aug 25) either against hosts Nepal or India, who will meet each other last group match to decide the group champions.
In the day’s last group match on Tuesday, Foysal Ahmed, who scored a hat-trick against Sri Lanka, opened the Bangladesh account in the 25th minute to dominate the first half by 1-0 goal.
Miraj Mollah scored two more goals for Bangladesh in the 52nd and 81st minutes respectively.
Promising striker Faisal Ahmed Fahim put Bangladesh ahead in the 25th minute with a superb goal by his solo afford (1-0). He found the Bhutanese net by a left footer after dodging past three opponent defenders.
Bangladesh continued their dominance till halfway mark and sealed the fate of the match scoring the 2nd goal in the 52nd minute. Defender Karim put a brilliant cross from the right flank to Miraj Molla, who headed the ball home (2-0).
Miraj Molla scored his 2nd and the 3rd goal for Bangladesh in the 81st minute by a brilliant long range shot (3-0).
Earlier, Bangladesh Under-15 team made a flying start in three three-team group beating Sri Lanka by 4-0 goals, spurred by a hat-trick of Foysal Ahmed Fahim in the tournament opener last Friday.
In the Group A opener last Friday, Faysal got the net thrice to fire in the 28th, 32nd and 74th minutes and was adjudged man of the match while defender Nazmul Biswas scored the remaining goal to extend the winning margin in the 44th minute.
Meanwhile hosts Nepal and title contenders India secured semifinal berth beating the Maldives 6-0 and 9-0 goals respectively.
