Two old rivals—Holders Bangladesh and runners-up India—will play each other again in the final of the four-nation South Asian Football Federation's (SAFF) U-19 Women's Championship '2024 on Thursday to retain the title.
The title-deciding final match between two neighbouring rivals will kick off at 6 pm local time at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka's Kamalapur.
SAFF U-19 Women's: Bangladesh reach final with all -win record outplaying Bhutan by 4-0 goals
Bangladesh are enjoying an upper-hand advantage against their giant rivals, India, beating them for the last three consecutive times after clinching the SAFF U-19 Women's Championship after clinching the title of the last version of the meet in 2021, beating India twice—first in the league match and second in the final match.
Bangladesh smartly reached the final with an all-win record, securing nine full points from three straight league matches, beating Nepal 3-1, India 1-0, and outplaying all losers Bhutan by 4-0 goals.
SAFF U-19 Women's: Bangladesh to play Bhutan on Tuesday
India booked a seat for the final, crushing Bhutan by 10-0 goals, outplaying Nepal by 4-0 goals, and losing to hosts Bangladesh by 0-1 goals.
Ahead of Thursday's final, both teams made their final practices on Wednesday afternoon.
SAFF U-19 Women's Champs: Sagorika guides host Bangladesh to final beating India by 1-0 goal
Speaking to the media, Bangladesh captain Afeida Khondakar said, "Our target is to clinch the title playing our usual game; we are not taking any extra pressure against the match with India."
"We worked hard for the tournament for a long time, and now we want to reach our ultimate goal of playing good football in the final," she added.
Defending champions Bangladesh, which ensured the final berth with one match spare after beating their giant rivals India by a 1-0 goal in their second league match last Sunday, now have to show their big match temperament against India in Thursday's final to be the champions for the second successive time.