Hosts India and Bangladesh will fight for the SAFF U-19 Championship title on May 18. Bangladesh won the first semi-final of the tournament today and India won the second semi-final. Nepal competed against Bangladesh, but Maldives could not put up much of a fight against hosts India. India won easily by 3-0 goals.
The hosts were in control from the start of the second semi-final, which was played at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Upia, Arunachal Pradesh, India, at night. They had a two-goal lead in the first half. Maldives tried to come back into the game in the second half, but conceded another goal. The second half was played in the rain for several minutes.
The Bangladesh-Nepal match was quite competitive. Bangladesh team coach Golam Rabbani Choton said after defeating Nepal 2-1 to secure a place in the final, ‘We had planned after watching the Nepal-India match. The boys were able to implement that plan on the field.’
Choton felt that Bangladesh had a four-day break before the semi-final, which was somewhat positive, ‘We played two consecutive group matches on May 9 and 11. Although it was difficult for us, we got four days before the semi-final which was useful.’
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Before the India match result, Bangladesh’s coach had predicted that the title fight would be with India. He believes that it is a great opportunity for Arunachal football fans, “India is definitely a strong opponent in SAFF football. There is a high possibility of India reaching the final. We want to face India. I hope the people of Arunachal will enjoy a good quality Bangladesh-India competitive final.”
