Bangladesh thrash Sri Lanka 5-1 in SAFF Football Tourney

Bangladesh made a rousing start to the SAFF Under-17 Football Tournament when they hammered Sri Lanka 5-1 in their Group ‘A’ opening match played under lights at the Race course Grounds in Colombo on Monday. The winners put the issue beyond doubt very early in the game after scoring twice inside five minutes as they built up a commanding 2-0 lead at half time.

Mohamed Rubel opened the scoring for the visitors as early as in the fifth minute to stun the home side and Mohamed Mursed scored the second goal in the ninth minute even before the Lankans had settled down after the early setback. After the turnaround Sri Lanka made some inroads into the Bangladesh territory but failed to add the finishing touches against a very tight defence. After a couple of missed opportunities, Bangladesh eventually sealed the contest in their favour as Mursed fired his second goal of the match in the 74th minute to increase their lead to 3-0.

Two minutes later, Sri Lanka had their moment of joy as Risni Mohamed dribbled his way past the Bangladesh goal keeper to score their solitary goal of the match.

However, any chances of a Sri Lankan comeback were completely shattered by the enthusiastic Bangladesh team as they added two more goals to their tally during the dying moments of the game.

Bangladesh also proved their bench strength as the substitute player Sirajul Islam dazzled to score their fourth goal in the 79th minute and there was enough time for Nazeem Mohamed to fire their fifth goal in the fourth minute of extra time. The six-nation tournament will be continued today at the same venue with Maldives playing against Bangladesh followed by the clash between Nepal and Bhutan under lights.