The U-17 team from the BFF Academy made a commanding start to their campaign at the Tianyu Liufang Tournament in Lijiang, China, with a resounding 4-0 victory over Shenyang U-17 in their opening group match on Sunday.
While the national U-17 side is currently taking part in the SAFF U-17 Championship in Sri Lanka, this academy team is representing Bangladesh in the Chinese invitational tournament, where matches are played over 80 minutes.
Ashik opened the scoring in the first half to give Bangladesh an early advantage. The team then produced a flurry of goals in the second half, scoring three times in a five-minute spell. Tahsan doubled the lead in the 54th minute before Ashik netted his second of the match in the 55th, completing his brace. Hedayet added the fourth goal in the 59th minute to seal an emphatic win.
BFF Academy are in a three-team group with Wuhan, a local Chinese side, and Sri Lanka. They are scheduled to face Sri Lanka tomorrow, followed by Wuhan the day after.
The tournament is being held to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and Bangladesh. As part of the celebrations, a Chinese university women’s team played a friendly match against the Bangladesh Women’s Football Academy side yesterday. The BFF’s male academy team is participating in this youth tournament as a continuation of the commemorative events.
