SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh coach Saiful Bari Titu said the performance in the 2-0 victory over Nepal in the opening match of the SAFF U-16 Women’s Championship in Kathmandu yesterday was “okay”, adding that he expected more goals from the players.

The Girls in Red and Green raced to a 2-0 lead within the first half-hour, thanks to a brace from star striker Sauravi Akanda Prity, but failed to increase the margin of victory.

“For a first match, I think the performance was okay but a lot of improvements to be done,” Titu told a press conference after the match.

“Especially with the chances that we created, we should have scored more goals. In the second half, we were supposed to dominate or have control of the match, but we didn’t do it,” the veteran coach added.

Bangladesh started the match aggressively and created two great opportunities early, but forward Alpi Akter, who was terrorising the Nepal defence all through, could not find the target from scoring positions.

Prity eventually broke the deadlock in the 24th minute with a placing shot following a through-ball from Sathi Munda before doubling the lead seven minutes later with a perfect spot-kick.

Bangladesh missed more chances in the rest of the match, including one by Prity, who was later stretchered off in the second half following an injury.

Titu felt the team took the foot off the gas in the second half and that high-altitude also troubled them.

“I’ve always said, even before coming here, that the high altitude is a problem for our players since the oxygen level is not too much. In the second half they were not giving enough effort as we would have liked,” the coach opined.

But this victory was a crucial one for Bangladesh, Titu felt, as it eases their way towards the final.

Bangladesh will play their next match on March 5 against favourites India, who thrashed Bhutan 7-0 in the opening match on Friday. The top two teams will play in the final on March 10.