Lalitpur, December 20

Bangladesh defeated Nepal 1-0 in the final of the AFC U-14 Girls’ Regional Championship title here at the Nepali Army Sports Centre today.

Marzia scored the solitary goal of the match in 16th minute when she found the back of the nets from the edge of the box after Nepal’s goalkeeper Rabita Kumari failed to grab the ball.

The final was rescheduled for today after it was postponed because of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25 and claimed the lives of more than 8,500 people.

Bangladesh dominated the match and attacked Nepal’s goal on regular intervals. In the 35th minute, Mosammat Sirat Jahan Shopna’s shot from the close range went wide of the post, while Jahan Moushumi struck the post in 54th minute. On other hand, Nepal could not make any attempt at Bangladesh post.

Bangladesh coach Golam Robbani Choton was happy with the performance of his girls. “This is our first ever title in girls’ football. We worked hard for this.

We thought Nepal would give us a tough fight but we dominated the match. Our players missed three goal scoring chances but a goal was enough for the victory,” he added.

Nepal coach Kishor KC was not satisfied with the performance and lamented the pitch. “The ground was not suitable for the girls as it was uneven. We had worked hard but the Bangladeshi players physically dominated the match.

Our goalkeeper could not gather the ball and it went into the goal. The players could not play as expected,” KC added. “After the earthquake the girls did not play football and we came into the match with a 20-day preparation. The duration was not enough for us,” he added.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Minister for Youth and Sports Satya Narayan Mandal, National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista, Chief of the Army Staff Rajendra Chhetri and ANFA acting president Narendra Shrestha handed over the prizes.