Bangladesh women’s football team head coach Peter Butler has hailed Ritu Porna Chakma as one of the finest wingers in South Asia ahead of his side’s crucial SAFF Women’s Championship clash against India.
The British coach backed the young attacker despite her struggles in Bangladesh’s previous match against Maldives. Butler believes Ritu remains one of the brightest talents in the region and expects her to continue improving.
“For me, Ritu is probably one of the best wingers in Southeast Asia, or even South Asia. She has huge potential. She is young and very talented. Sometimes you need to produce your best football. I enjoy working with her. She brings great energy to the team. It is also good to have Monika back.”
Bangladesh will face hosts India on Sunday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. Both teams have already booked their places in the semifinals, but the match will determine the group winners.
India are ahead on goal difference and need only a draw to finish at the top. Bangladesh must secure all three points to become group champions.
Butler said matches like this are exactly what his players need as they continue their development.
“This is the type of match you look forward to playing. With full respect, matches like this are more desirable than playing against Maldives. These games are a great opportunity to test ourselves against the best teams in the region. More importantly, they show that we have players like Ritu Porna Chakma, Sagarika, Moutamita Chakma and Arpita Biswas in our squad. Our young players are coming through and pushing the others to perform better. It is a great chance to see where we stand and to go out and play good football.”
Bangladesh could be strengthened by the return of midfielder Monika Chakma and defender Shiuli Azim. Both missed the last match but are expected to be available against India.
Shiuli explained the reason behind her absence.
“I had gastric pain in my chest from the day before the last match, so I could not play. I am feeling better now.”
Bangladesh defeated Maldives in their previous outing but were not fully satisfied with the performance. The Maldives fought back to level the score at 2-2 during the match before Bangladesh eventually secured the win.
Butler felt his side should have made better use of their dominance.
“I did not think they were very disappointed. I just felt they were frustrated because it was a match we should have won by a large margin. We had around 80 percent possession but did not take our chances. Ritu had an off day. A few others also did not have their best game. That can happen. It is all part of learning.”
India recently competed in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and are among the favourites in the tournament. However, Butler is confident that Bangladesh can compete with any team in the region.
“We are a completely different team now. We play good football. We have several talented young players coming through. I do not want to focus only on a few individuals because we have real match winners in this squad. Anika adds a completely different dimension to our game. India are attack minded and so are we. We can defend when needed and we can create chances when opportunities come. The key is to make those chances count.”
