Defending champions Bangladesh will face Group B runners up Bhutan in the first semifinal of seven -nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Championshi- 2024 tomorrow (Sunday), reports UNB.
The match will kick off at 01:45 pm Bangladesh time at the Dashrath Rangasala (Stadium) in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
In the Day's other semifinal, Group B champions and host Nepal will play Group A runners-up and the five-time champions India at 06:45 pm Bangladesh time at the same venue.
The final match will be held on October 30.
In the day's Group B match, Bhutan crushed the Maldives by 13-0 goals to reach the semifinal as the Group B runners-up securing seven points from all the three group matches.
In the day's other Group B match, hosts Nepal emerged Group B champions to reach the semis by virtue of better goal difference also collecting seven points from three outings, outplaying Sri Lanka by 6-0 goals on Thursday.
Earlier, Bangladesh emerged unbeaten champions of Group A shocking five times champions India by 3-1 goals in the last Group A match last Wednesday.
This was the 2nd 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 arch-rivals Pakistan by 5-2 goals in tournament opener.
BSS adds: forward Tohura Khatun said they are simply focusing on their semi-final match against Bhutan and is upbeat to give maximum effort to win the match.
"Bhutan already improved a lot …..they drew with host Nepal and thrashed Maldives by 13-0 goals in their group engagements … so we are focusing on Bhutan match and upbeat to give our maximum effort to win the match," said Tohura during the team's practice session at ANFA Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal, according to a video message received here on Friday.
The forward said they are not taking Bhutan lightly and hopes that if they play their natural game as usual, then they would be able to bring out a result from Bhutan match.
When asked to comment about her personal target in the semi-finals, Tohura said: "I personally try to give my best and if I get chance in the final squad, my target will be to score goal in the match."
Bangladesh team's manager Mahmuda Akter said each participating team of the tournament is improving, especially Bhutan, who improved technically and tactically compared to their last SAFF Tournament.
Replying to a question, Mahmuda said they were elated to win the match against Maldives.
The Bangladesh national women's football team continued their training session ahead of the semi-final match. The team conducted one and half hour targeted training session in the morning focusing on tactical drills and team coordination.