Bashundhara Group, the largest business conglomerate of the country, accorded a reception to the Bangladesh U-19 women’s national football team at the International Convention City Bashundhara in the capital on Thursday.
Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir handed over the crests and Tk 1 lakh to each member of the winning team as the chief guest of the programme.
He said: “I congratulate Bangladesh U-19 Women’s football team who brought a big victory for our country. Sorry to hear that you (Bangladesh Football Federation) need to loan Tk 30,000, Tk 1 lakh to run the camp for the women. This amount isn’t enough to make a team champions. I think a team needs at least Tk 1 crore now, needs big sponsorships to become champions in a tournament. Today, I promise I will stay with the team.”
Bashundhara Kings President and Bangladesh Football Federation Vice-President Imrul Hassan, East West Media Group Ltd Director Imdadul Haq Milan and daily Bangladesh Pratidin Editor Naem Nizam, FIFA Council Member and BFF Women’s Wing Chairman Mahfuza Akter Kiron, BFF General Secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag and others were also present there.
Among the players -- Shamsunnahar, Anai Mogini, Ripa, Rehena Akter, Monika Chakma, Rupna Chakma, Yasmin Akhtar, Eity, Akhi Khatun, Nasrin Akter, Nilufa Yesmin Nila, Afeida, Unnoti, Ritu Porna Chakma, Shopna, Tohura Khatun, Halima and Shamsunnahar Jr attended the programme.
Team manager Amirul Islam Babu, BFF technical director Paul Smalley, head coach Golam Robbani Choton, assistant coaches Mahbubur Rahman Litu, Mahmuda Akter Ananya, Trishna Chakma, Md Salim and Laiju Yeasmin Lipa were present.
The hosts Bangladesh defended the SAFF U-19 title beating India by 1-0 goal in the final at the Bir Shrestha Shaheed Sepoy Mustofa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka on December 22.
The home side earlier started their campaign in the tournament with a goalless draw against Nepal but returned on the track with a 6-0 win over Bhutan. They continued the winning streak by crushing India and Sri Lanka 1-0 and 12-0 goals respectively in the remaining group matches to finish the league stage on top. The hosts scored a total of 20 goals and kept the clean sheets in all matches of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh secured the title of the maiden edition of the meet in 2018 when they defeated Nepal by a 1-0 goal in the final in the Maldives.
BDST: 1814 HRS, DEC 30, 2021
SMS
