Bangladesh crush Maldives to lift junior trophy

Bangladesh U-16s emerged to be crowned champions in the four-team UEFA Assist Development Tournament, crushing Maldives U-16s in the final 6-0 goals in their third and last match at the flood-lit Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday, reports UNB.

Going into the last game, Bangladesh were in pole position to secure a result that would earn them the trophy. Although the Faroe Islands had drawn level on points with their victory over Cambodia in Wednesday's early kick-off, the hosts would still have been heavily favoured, barring some unusual disaster.

In any case, the Bangladesh youngsters ambushed their hapless opponents at the start with a blitz, as Bangladesh scored thrice inside the first quarter of an hour. It started with midfielder Emon Islam Babu, defender Apurbo Mali and forward Saidul Islam Sumon scored one goal each in the 7th, 13th and 14th minutes respectively for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh made a good start in the league-basis meet beating Cambodia by 2-0 goals in their first match on Wednesday and maintained the all-win record beating European side Faroe Islands by 3-1 goals in their second match on Friday.

European team Faroe Islands finished 2nd with six points, Maldives finished 3rd and Cambodia finished 4th in the four-team tournament.

After the day's matches, State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russel distributed the prizes among the teams.

President of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) and Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Kazi Md Salahuddin, Senior Vice-President Abdus Salam Murshedy, Women's Wing Chairperson as well as FIFA council member Mahfuza Akhter Kiron were also present on the occasion.