Hosts Bangladesh emerged as unbeaten Group F champions with a 2-0 victory against Vietnam at the end of the first round of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship qualifiers on Sunday.
They took the lead through Tohura Khatun’s strike in the first half before Ankhi Khatun stretched the lead for the hosts in the second half at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Sipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka’s Kamalapur on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
This was the fourth straight win for the team of Golam Rabbani Chhoton in the tournament.
They had routed Bahrain 10-0, Lebanon 8-0 and the United Arab Emirates 7-0 in the first three matches.
Vietnam had also won their first three matches in the tournament in a similar fashion finding their opponents’ net 25 times and conceding none.
Both teams needed another win on Sunday to secure the top spot as they were tied at same points, with same goal differences.
Bangladesh fluffed a great chance to go ahead in the fifth minute when neither Shamsunnahar nor Tohura could connect on Rituparna Chakma’s cross.
The forwards could not find a way to breach the Vietnamese defence even though the game was played in their half most of the time.
The hosts broke into celebrations Shamsunnahar (junior) found the net in the 37th minute, but the linesman had flagged her offside.
Tohura finally broke the deadlock in the stoppage time of the first half with a header from Shamsunnahar’s (junior) pass after Anai Mogini’s shot was parried by the goalkeeper, Dao Thi Kieu Oanh.
Goalie Oanh saved what looked like a certain goal by stopping Rituparna’s effort in the 56th minute.
Ankhi doubled the advantage in the 63rd minute when she scored from a rebound after Shamsunnahar’s (junior) header from Maria Manda’s corner kick hit the post.
The second round will be played between the champions of six groups and two top runners-up from the groups.
In the second round, the eight teams will play in two groups. Four of them - the champions and runners up – will qualify for the AFC championship.
The last edition’s champions North Korea, first runners-up South Korea, second runners-up Japan and hosts Thailand will play directly in the main tournament scheduled for next year.