The Bangladesh team smartly reached the semifinals from three-team Group A along with Nepal eliminating Himalayan nation Bhutan by 2-0 goals in their first match on Thursday. They need an outright victory in their last group match against the hosts to clinch the group title.
Nepal, which also assured the semifinal berth from the same group beating Bhutan convincingly by-3-0 goals in the tournament opener last Tuesday need a just draw against Bangladesh to be the group champions.
Both the semifinals will be held on March 20 while the final is scheduled for March 22.
In the semifinals, Group A champions will play Group B runners-up at 11am while Group B champions will encounter Group A runners–up at 3pm at the same venue. The final match will take place at 3pm on March 22.
Ahead of the Saturday’s last group match against Nepal, Head Coach of Bangladesh Golam Robbani Choton said, “Our young team are improving day by day in recent times. Now we’re looking forward to our next game (against Nepal) and we are focusing on our next game."
Bangladesh Captain Sabina Khatun said, “I’m very pleased to seal our team’s results in our first game scoring the second goal. Now, we’re looking forward with full confidence to our second game.”
Head Coach of Nepal Team Hari Khadka said, “It will be a very interesting match tomorrow (Saturday) for the group championship. Both teams are good and balanced."