China is the defending champion of the AFC Women's Asian Cup. On the other hand, Bangladesh is playing in the Asia Cup for the first time. Bangladeshi girls are far behind China in preparation and physical fitness. As a result, the loss was largely expected.
The Bengal Tigers made their Asian Cup debut with a loss, but despite losing, Rituparna-Mariya are earning praise for fighting against the defending champions.
The Bangladesh women's football team lost 2-0 to defending champion China in their first group match of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Western Sydney on Tuesday. Both goals in the match were scored towards the end of the first half.
Coach Peter Butler replaced Halima with midfielder Anika Rania in the 86th minute. Through this, Anika, a Swedish expatriate of Bangladeshi origin, made her debut in the Bangladesh jersey.
China's ranking is 17, Bangladesh's 112. On paper and in pen, it was a clearly unequal match. However, the Bangladesh women's team did not allow that gap to be fully reflected on the field. They played positive football throughout the scheduled 90 minutes. Despite having extra players in defense, the team's attempt to take control in the midfield was clear, and the team also attacked whenever it got the opportunity.
Although the Asian champion China women's national football team was ahead in physical and technical aspects, the Bangladesh women's national football team was not behind in the fight. Rituparnara showed a commendable performance especially in fitness and ball possession.
China had to wait until the 44th minute for the first goal. They took control of the match by scoring two goals in the last two minutes of the first half. In the second half, Bangladesh improved in possession of the ball and increased the attack by breaking the defensive shell.
Goalkeeper Mily Akhter was a little nervous at the beginning, but regained confidence with time. She made several important saves. Especially at the beginning of the second half, he saved the team from a big gap by preventing a sure goal.
After the break, Bangladesh made three changes, replacing Umhela, Shiuly and Nabiron with Tohura, Halima and Swapna. Swedish expatriate Anika Rahman made her debut in the national team in the 85th minute. China also made three changes in the second half, but could not increase the goal difference.
VAR technology is in place in the ongoing AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia. In the second half, a penalty was checked by VAR in an attack by Bangladesh, but in the end, the decision was not made in favor of Bangladesh. With the help of the same technology, a goal by China was also disallowed, which was a big relief for Bangladesh.
The most exciting moment of the match came in the 14th minute. Rituparna Chakma received the ball from a counter attack. She quickly moved past the defender and took a left-footed shot from about 30 yards away, almost hitting the net. It could have been one of the best goals of the tournament if China's goalkeeper Chen Chen hadn't jumped back and made a brilliant save.
China had their first shot on target in the 22nd minute, but it was ruled out by VAR. Finally, Wang Shuang put the team ahead with a long-range shot in the 44th minute. A minute later, Zhang Rui's shot deflected off Bangladesh's defenders and into the net to make it 2-0.
Despite losing 2-0 in the end, Bangladesh showed a glimmer of courage and potential in their performance. The biggest achievement of this match was gaining confidence by fighting evenly against Asia's most successful team.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
