Both the semifinals of the seven-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Championship 2024 will be held at the Dashrath Rangasala (Stadium) Kathmandu of Nepal today (Sunday), reports UNB.
Defending champions Bangladesh will play Group B runners-up Bhutan in the first semifinal at 1:45 pm (Bangl-adesh time), while Group B champions and hosts Nepal will face Group A runners-up and the five-time champions India at 6:45 pm at the same venue.
The final match between two winning semifinalists will be held on October 30.
Ahead of today's (Sunday) semifinal, Bang-ladesh women's team conducted their final training session Saturday afternoon from 2 pm to 3 pm at the Army Headquarters ground, focusing on tactical drills and strategic play.
After the training session, the Bangladeshi women's took an ice bath at the team hotel for recovery and to ensure peak readiness.
During the day's training session, Bangladesh vice-captain Maria Manda said, "We beat Bhutan by 8-0 goals earlier, but this time they are a different team, stronger than previous occasions; they drew goalless with hosts Nepal, so we are prepared to face them.".
Bhutan, which never won a match against Bangladesh women's and suffered a 0-8 goal defeat to Bangladesh in the last SAFF Women's Champi-onship in 2022 in Kathmandu, this time proved their worth to qualify for the semifinal as the unbeaten team for the first time and finished Group B runners-up, toppling Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
On way to the semis, Bhutan outplayed the Maldives by 13-0 goals and beat Sri Lanka by 4-1 goals after playing a goalless draw with hosts Nepal in the group affairs.
Bangladesh smartly booked a seat for the semifinal as the Group A champions with an unbeaten run shocking five-time champion India by 3-1 goals in the last group match last Wednesday.
This was the second consecutive victory for Bangladesh women's against the Indian women's in the SAFF Championship after beating them by 3-0 goals in the last SAFF Women's Championship held in 2022, also in Kathmandu.
Despite the day's frustrating 1-3 goals defeat, India also reached the semifinal as the Group A runners-up, outplaying Pakistan by 5-2 goals in the tournament opener.
Earlier, Bangladesh luckily stayed in the semifinal race after playing a 1-1 draw with Pakistan by a Shamsunnahar Jr.'s equalising goal in the added time (90+1 minute) in their first match.
Nepal emerged Group B champions to reach the semis with an unbeaten record by virtue of a better goal difference, outplaying the Maldives by 11-0 goals and beating Sri Lanka by 6-0 goals after playing a goalless draw with Bhutan.
