Sports Correspondent: Bangladesh football team has made a good start by defeating Sri Lanka by 1 goal in the SAF Championship. Jamal Bhuiyan left the field with a 1-0 win in the opening match of the tournament at the Mal National Stadium in Maldives on Friday (October 1st). Tapu Varman scored the only goal from the penalty spot.

Jamal Bhuiyan's team started playing well from the beginning of the match. In the last minute of the break, the representatives of the red and green team did not see the goal in the great save of the Sri Lankan goalkeeper. Although the defense showed dominance in the middle of the field, Bangladesh lost in the attack.

At the end of the first half, Oscar Brujon's team was ahead in the fight for possession and attack. The ball was on Jamal's feet 72 percent of the time in the first half. Bangladesh took 6 shots targeting the Lankans. And the Lankans took 5.

After the break, the footballers of Bangladesh increased their attack. Tapu Barman put Bangladesh ahead with a goal from the penalty spot in the 57th minute of the match.

Earlier, Bangladesh last met Sri Lanka in 2009 at the SAF. Seba Enamul Haque's pair of goals helped Bangladesh win 2-1. The last time the two teams met was in 2020, at the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Bangladesh won 3-0 with the help of Matin Mia and Mohammad Ibrahim.

Once again, the footballers of the Bangladesh team have made a good start in the SAF Championship by defeating Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh XI:

Goalkeeper: Anisur Rahman Zico.

Defenders: Yassin Arafat, Tapu Barman, Bishwanath Ghosh, Tariq Rahman Kazi.

Midfielders: Jamal Bhuiyan (captain), Rakib Hossain.

Forwards: Jewel Rana, Mohammad Ibrahim, Bipolu Ahmed, Sumon Reza.

On the other hand, India will face Bangladesh in the second match on October 3 at 5 pm. Bangladesh will play the third match against Maldives on October 8 at 10 pm. Nepal will play the last match of Bangladesh in the first round on October 11. This match will start at 5 pm.

The five-team tournament will be played in a round-robin league format. In that case each team will face everyone. The top two teams in the points table will play in the final. The final will be on October 13.

Initially, the South Asian Football Federation wanted to organize SAF with six teams. But the Bhutan Football Federation had a government ban on playing on foreign soil. But the Bhutan Football Federation also wanted to play safe this time with the permission of the country's government.

For this, he asked the South Asian Football Federation (SAF) for three days. In the end, Bhutan said no. They are not playing safe, so this year's clean is starting with five teams. Pakistan is not playing in this tournament due to FIFA ban.

Safe Bangladesh has not seen success for the last 18 years. In 2003, Bangladesh became the last safe champion. He reached the finals in 1999 and 2005. The last safe champion to be held in Dhaka in 2016 was Maldives. The island nation won the trophy by defeating India 2-1 in the final.
Safe Bangladesh Schedule:

Date opponent time

October 1, 2021 Sri Lanka at 10 p.m.

3 October 2021 India 5 p.m.

October 8, 2021 Maldives 10 pm

October 11, 2021 Nepal 5 pm

Sun News / FAR