Hosts Bangladesh emerged unbeaten group F champions in style to seal a place in the second qualifying round of the AFC Women’s Under-16 Championship Qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Vietnam in the first qualifying round match held on Sunday.
In the day’s match, Tohura Khatun gave the home side a deserving lead in the stoppage time of the first have before Akhi Khatun doubled the lead in the second of the match, which was purely dominated by the hosts held at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in the city’s Kamlapaur.
Tohura put Bangladesh ahead in the 45th minute with a brilliant header from goal line.
After the lemon break, Akhi Khatun sealed the victory for Bangladesh in the 63rd minute with a left footed push from close range as her own rebound shot came to her way after Vietnam custodian fisted the ball.
In the day’s other match held at the same venue, United Arab Emirates (UAE) edged past all losers Bahrain by a solitary goal.
After the barren first half, striker Shahd Khaled Fakher Husain Alzarkan scored the all-important goal for UAE in the 63rd minute of the match.
The six group champions and the two best runners-up teams will play the second qualifying round after being split into two groups, from which the top two teams of each group will qualify for the final round, which will be held in Thailand in September next year.
Earlier, Bangladesh got off to a winning start in the tournament as they dumped Bahrain by 10-0 goals in their group opening match and blanked Lebanon by 8-0 goals in their second group match.
The host continued their winning streak as they dumped UAE by 7-0 goals in their group match.
On the other hand, Vietnam blanked UAE by 4-0 goals in their group opening match and crushed Bahrain by 14-0 goals in their group second match.
Vietnam recorded their third win as they drubbed Lebanon by 7-0 goals in their third group match.
Source: BSS