PHOTO: SAFF

ANISUR RAHMAN from Margao

Bangladesh will look to carry the momentum from their spirited semifinal victory over Nepal into today’s SAFF Women’s Championship final against five-time champions India at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao. The final kicks off at 7:00pm Bangladesh time.

The defending champions are just one win away from securing a third successive SAFF title. However, Peter Butler’s side will need a significantly improved performance against an Indian team determined to reclaim regional supremacy after missing out on the trophy in the last two editions.

Bangladesh’s journey to the final has been anything but smooth. They opened their campaign with a scrappy 4-2 win over Maldives before suffering a humbling 3-0 defeat to India in the group stage. The women in red and green responded strongly in the semifinals, coming from behind to beat Nepal 2-1 and book a place in their third consecutive final.

That victory has restored confidence within the Bangladesh camp.

“I think what’s really important is that the girls have shown great resilience and character and I just hope to take that forward and build on what they’ve done because I don’t think you’ve really seen the real Bangladesh as yet,” Butler said at the pre-final press conference in Margao yesterday.

The English coach believes his side must focus on executing their own game plan rather than being intimidated by their opponents.

“It’s all about handling pressure, executing a game plan and, more importantly, imposing your style of football on the opposition rather than worrying about them. We go into it with hope and a real will to succeed,” he said.

India have reached the final without conceding a goal and have scored 15 times in three matches, highlighting the challenge facing Bangladesh. Butler, however, stressed that knockout football is about finding a way to win rather than producing perfect performances.

“We’ve had our ups and downs. It’s been a rocky road. Sometimes it’s not about playing beautiful football when you’re in competition mode; it’s about getting over the line. It’s about dealing with the circumstances and getting the desired result,” he said.

This will be only the second SAFF Women’s Championship final between Bangladesh and India. The previous meeting came in 2016 when India won 2-0 in Shillong.

Despite India’s convincing group-stage victory, head coach Crispin Chettri expects a different contest.

“Every game is different. Bangladesh will come with a different mindset because they know they have nothing to lose after already losing to India,” he said.

Having rediscovered their fighting spirit against Nepal, Bangladesh now stand 90 minutes away from making history once again.