Bangladesh made a winning start in the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers with a 3–1 victory over hosts Laos on Wednesday, 6 August. Despite conceding a late goal, head coach Peter James Butler remains confident in his team’s performance and outlook for the rest of the tournament.
Forward Sagarika starred with a brace, opening the scoring in the first half and netting again late in the match to seal the win. Munki Akter added the second goal for Bangladesh. Although the team conceded once towards the end, Butler was quick to praise the overall effort and discipline shown by the players.
“It’s always a great thing to win the opening match,” said Butler. “We’ve got our first points on the board, which gives us motivation heading into the next match against Timor-Leste. I thought we defended well. At times, we took some risks — but that’s how we play. Some will like it, some won’t.”
Bangladesh will face Timor-Leste on Friday in their second Group H match. The other team in the group is tournament favourite South Korea, who hammered Timor-Leste 9–0 in their opening game, taking the top spot in the group standings.
Butler acknowledged that there were early nerves and pressure to capitalise on chances, but praised the players’ composure and intent. “We’re usually under pressure to make use of early opportunities. But I think the girls played genuinely good football and worked hard to keep the defence solid.”
Reflecting on the goal conceded, the British coach admitted some disappointment: “We let in a poor goal, which I wasn’t happy about. But to be honest, I don’t think it ever put the result in jeopardy. We stayed in control.”
Bangladesh had only managed two wins in their previous 12 matches in U-20 Asian Cup qualifying history. This latest victory marks their third and signals a promising start to the campaign.
With the top team from each group qualifying directly for the final tournament, Bangladesh are targeting a second-place finish and aiming to be among the best three runners-up from across the nine groups to secure a spot in the main event.