Bangladesh reached the semifinals of SAFF U-17 Football Championship as group champions thrashing the Maldives by 5-0 goals in their second and last group A match at Racecourse Int'l Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Mirajul Islam slammed a brilliant hat-trick to reach Bangladesh in the semifinals.
Apart from Mirajul's hat-trick with three goals, Nazmul Huda Faysal and Murshed Ali supported with a lone goal each for the boys in red and green, who led the first half by 2-0 goals, reports BSS.
Bangladesh had to wait a few minutes to take the lead when Namul scored the first goal in the early 4th minute.
Earlier, the Bangladesh U-17 football team got off to a flying start as they thrashed host Sri Lanka by 5-1 goals in their opening group A match on Monday.
A total of six teams -- Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, defending champions India, Nepal and Bhutan -- split into two groups, are taking part in the SAFF U-17 Football Championship.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
