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A brilliant hat-trick by captain Sabina Khatun helped the touring Bangladesh national women's football team earn a 5-0 victory over Hong Kong in a friendly match at the JAR Academy Training Ground in the Uzbek capital Tashkent Sunday.
With the day's well-deserved victory over higher-ranked Hong Kong, Bangladesh found some relief after their frustrating performance in the just-concluded Group G matches of the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 qualifiers against Jordan and Iran in Tashkent last week.
The national women's football team suffered a 0-5 defeat against both Jordan and Iran in Tashkent.
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In Sunday's match against Hong Kong, Tohura Khatun opened the score for Bangladesh in the18th minute. Sabina Khatun made a hat-trick, scoring the remaining four goals in the 43rd, 53rd, 57th and 85th minutes.
Earlier, the women's team played two FIFA Tier-1 international friendlies against Nepal in Kathmandu recently as a part of their preparations for this month's AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers.
Bangladesh conceded a 1-2 defeat against the hosts in the first match and played out to a goalless draw in the second one.
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The matches were the first international fixtures for the national women's team in more than two and a half years after playing the semifinal of the SAFF Championship against India in March 2019.