Bangladesh lift maiden SAFF U-16 soccer title

Bangladesh Under-16 team won their first-ever South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-16 title beating India 4-2 in tie-breaker in Sylhet on Tuesday. The final match between the two neighbours was locked in 1-1 in the stipulated 90-minute in front of 20,000 capacity crowd at the stadium under floodlights. After a barren first half, Fahim Morshed put Bangladesh ahead in the very first minute of the second half by a ground shot from goalmouth melee amid thunderous cheers from near-packed fans. Indian midfielder Amay Avinash Morajkar leveled the margin in the 63rd minute by a long distance shot over Bangladesh goal keeper. In tie breaker, Bangladesh converted all the four shot successfully while India missed the 3rd and 4th attempt after two successive goals to concede the defeat. In the previous two editions of the regional soccer meet Bangladesh finished 4th and 3rd respectively. Bangladesh made their first-ever final berth in the 3rd edition of the six-nation SAFF U-16 Championship with an all-win record eliminating Afghanistan 1-0 in the first semifinal while India managed the final berth eliminating Nepal by 1-0 goal in the 2nd semifinal, both held at the same venue on Sunday. Hosts Bangladesh confirmed the semifinal berth in the South Asian soccer meet from group A eliminating all-losers Sri Lanka by 4-0 goals in the first match on August 11 and later they shocked defending champions India by 2-1 goals in the last group match to be the group champion August 13. India also assured the semifinal berth from the same group beating Sri Lanka by 5-0 goals in the tournament opener on August 9, according to a news agency.
- mbz