UNB, Sylhet :
Hosts Bangladesh smartly reached the semi-final of the six-nation SAFF U-16 Championship with one match to spare eliminating Sri Lanka by 4-0 goals in their first Group A match at the Sylhet district Stadium on Tuesday.
Sarwan Zaman Nipu struck twice, Atiquzzaman and Abedin Rakib netted one goal each for Bangladesh, which dominated the first half while leading 1-0.
In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will play defending champions India on Thursday (Aug 13) at 5: pm at the same venue to decide the Group A champion.
India also confirmed the semifinal berth from Group A crushing Sri Lanka by 5-0 goals in tournament opener on Sunday featuring a hattrick by Saurav Meher.
In the day’s match, Bangladesh earned the deserving victory forcing Sri Lanka to play in their territory for most of the proceeding when Sri Lankan were found busy to foil Bangladesh attack one after another.
Sarwar Zaman Nipu opened the floodgate for Bangladesh in the very 5th minute by a nice shot after dodging past one of the opponent defender (1-0).
Abedin Rakib doubled the margin in the 60th minute by a powerful left footer from the danger zone (2-0).
Atiquzaman scored the 3rd goal for Bangladesh in the 76th minute by a spectacular header off a corner kick of Mohammad Shawon (3-0).
Sarwar Zaman Nipu sealed the fate of the match scoring his 2nd and the 4th goal for Bangladesh in 81st minute by cool shot, off a Shawon pass (4-0).
After the match, Bangladesh coach Syed Golam Zillani said “thanks to almighty Allah for making a good start (today).
“We spoiled many chances, but it was part of the game, we will try our best to do better in the next match, taking lesson from the day’s mistake.” Bangladesh coach added.
Sri Lanka coach MMA Ajwal said, “Bangladesh earned the deserving win playing a good match, we are mostly busy to resist Bangladesh attack one after another, but we played a better game then the previous one (against India)”.
Earlier, Bangladesh was put in strong Group A along with India and Sri Lanka while Group B team comprises of Nepal, the Maldives and Afghanistan.
On completion of the group matches, top two teams of each group will play in the semifinals on August 16 while the final match will be held on August 18.
