Choton seeks improvement despite big win

Although Bangladesh began their AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign with a convincing 4-0 win over Turkmenistan, head coach Golam Rabbani Choton demanded more from his troops in their crucial upcoming clash with Iran.

Iran and hosts Bangladesh are tied on three points each in the three-team Group H, but Iran have a superior goal difference after beating Turkmenistan 7-1. That means

Bangladesh have no alternative than to defeat the visitors and claim top spot in order to script history by moving into the second round of the Qualifiers, a phase only the U-16 women's team has reached in the past.

At the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday, Bangladesh, sans injured forward Shamsunnar Jr, were made to toil before Aklima Khatun shattered the Turkmen resistance from a goal-mouth scramble on the cusp of half-time.

Aklima doubled the margin in the 71st minute by volleying home at the near post from a well-judged Eity Khatun cross. Eity turned provider again, delivering another cross that Swapna Rani simply headed home for the third goal in the 80th minute. Swapna then wrapped up the win with a long-range drive that was deflected into the back of the net.

"Our target was to win and the girls do so by playing their natural game," Choton said. "Of course, they had the message to take their chances and extend the margin. But the girls did not take all their chances despite creating a lot of goal-scoring opportunities."

Choton believes that, aside from squandering chances, his forward line was a bit disorganised for the first 20 minutes. It was something he attributed to missing the influential Shamsunnar Jr.

"We really felt Shamsunnar Jr's absence. If she was up front, the margin would have been different. We will try to get her for the next match, depending on her recovery from a ligament injury."

However, he conceded that their performance would have to go up a few levels regardless.

"Iran are a strong team with experienced players. The next match is going to be a 50-50 match. The team that takes their chances will win. I think the girls have to improve on today's performance if we want to progress to the next round."