Lankan lasses face acid test against Bhutan

SAFF Women’s Football Tournament

Monday, 21 October 2024 02:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Althaf Nawaz

Sri Lankan lasses will face an acid test when they take on Bhutan in their second fixture of the SAFF Women’s Football Tournament at the Dasharath Stadium in Nepal today.

After a scintillating performance by the lasses who managed to edge out Maldives 1-0 in their curtain raiser a few days ago, they will have another tough assignment against a high riding team. Bhutan drew nil-all against host Nepal in their tournament opener, which saw a highly competitive game, even though the game ended up scoreless.

According to Head Coach Hassan Roomy, they are likely to execute a different playing pattern (4-4-1-1), which is a semi-attacking strategy, than the previous game where they adopted a 4-4-2 format. The reason, he says, is that their rival team is highly trained and well prepared compared to his team. Hence, he is making all efforts to defend well, while counter-attacking to make inroads as and when opportunities arise.

Sri Lanka lost 5-0 to Bhutan when they last met in a similar tournament, and will no doubt have to make a valiant effort to get a fruitful result. “Well, we saw the game between Bhutan and Nepal which was of a high standard. We worked with the team and want to change the game pattern to a semi-defensive approach initially. We will assess the situation as the game progresses, and our top priority is to force a draw. If God wills, we will try to create an upset.”

“More importantly, the girls are pumped up for the task. After their win over Maldives, they want to maintain the winning momentum to secure a berth in the semi-finals. You can never predict anything now, and if everything works according to plan, then nothing is impossible,” said Roomy, who is very eager to turn tables today. Sri Lanka notched up a 3-0 win over Bhutan in 2014 but lost 2-0 (2016) and 5-0 (2022) respectively.