Bangladesh net nine goals against Sri Lanka, Sagorika scores a hat-trick

In their very first match of the SAFF Under-20 Women's Championship, Bangladesh thrashed Sri Lanka by 9–1 goals. On Friday, at Dhaka's Kings Arena, the girls displayed dominance from the very first minute and celebrated a goal fest.

Mosammat Sagorika scored a hat-trick, while Munki Akter netted two goals. Besides them, Swapna Rani, Sinha Jahan Shikha, Rupa Akter, and Shanti Mardi scored one goal each. Six of Bangladesh's nine goals came in the second half.

On this day, Bangladesh's coach included eight of the 23 players from the Asian Cup qualifiers in the starting eleven. Sri Lanka felt the impact from the very first minute. Within a minute of play, Bangladesh took the lead through Swapna Rani's goal. The 19-year-old midfielder gave the hosts their first occasion to celebrate with a direct free-kick. Just three minutes later, Bangladesh found their second goal. This time, Munki Akter single-handedly tore apart the opponent's defence to double the lead.

By the 30th minute of the first half, Bangladesh launched several more promising attacks. Among them, in the 15th minute, Mosammat Sagorika's shot was denied by the cruel goalpost. In the 19th minute, even after receiving the ball right in front of the post, Munki could not find the target. However, this did not slow down Bangladesh's attacking tempo at all. Finally, in the 37th minute came the third goal. From a cross by Bangladesh's Sinha Jahan advancing through the right wing, Sagorika gently tapped the ball into the net. Afterwards, in the 38th and 45th minutes, Bangladesh sent the ball into the opponent's net twice, but both were ruled out for offside.

After the break, Bangladesh celebrated six more goals one after another. In the 48th minute, from a pass by Sagorika advancing through the left wing, Munki scored her second and the team's fourth goal. In the 49th minute, from a long cross by Shanti Mardi, Sinha tapped the ball into the net. Then in the 52nd minute, receiving a pass from Bonna Khatun, Sagorika skilfully entered the opponent's box and netted the team's sixth goal. Six minutes later, Sagorika again; this time she celebrated her hat-trick. Puja Das sent a ball towards the goalmouth from the right side of the post, and the 17-year-old forward swiftly placed it into the net. In the 85th minute, Rupa Akter made the scoreline 8–0. From Bonna's corner, Rupa fooled the opponent defenders. After the 90th minute, Sri Lanka found a consolation goal. Opponent footballer Liyanshika utilised the lapse in Bangladesh's defence. Immediately after, Shanti Mardi gifted Bangladesh their ninth goal.

Although five countries were supposed to participate in this tournament, India eventually withdrew their name. Therefore, the SAFF event has begun with four countries – Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. There has been a change in the tournament format as well. Now the four teams will play each other twice in a round-robin league system. Each team will get six matches. The team with the highest points will lift the coveted trophy.

On 13 July, Bangladesh will play their second match against Nepal. On 15 and 17 July, Bangladesh girls will face Bhutan in two consecutive matches. On 19 July, Swapna, Sagorika and their teammates will meet Sri Lanka again. Finally, on 21 July, Bangladesh will face Nepal in their last match.

Bangladesh's tally of achievements in age-level SAFF competitions is quite heavy. In the last edition in 2024, they became joint champions with India. Thus, so far in five editions, Bangladesh have won the title four times.