Bangladesh reach semifinal stage in SAFF U-17 Championship

Bangladesh reached the semifinal Group A of the seven- nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship as India crushed the Maldives by 3-0 goals in their last group match at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu on Tuesday.

With the day's well merited victory, defending champions India not only stormed into the semifinal of the meet with an all-win record securing full six points but also made a passage for Bangladesh to the semifinal at the cost of the Maldives.

Before the day's match, the semifinal berth of Bangladesh under huge threat as they played 1-1 draw with Islanders Maldives after conceding 0-1 goal defeat against India in the injury time.

Winless Bangladesh, which bagged only a point from both the group matches, waiting for India's 2-0 win over the Maldives to assure their semifinal berth and finally achieved their target as the Group A runners up at the coffin of the Islanders.

Maldives was eliminated from the meet due to poor goal differences despite collecting one point from two matches like Bangladesh.

In Group B, both Pakistan and hosts Bhutan secured the semifinal berth securing four points each, but the group champions and runners-up will be finalized after their last group matches on Wednesday.

Pakistan will play Sri Lanka at 1:30 pm while hosts Bhutan will face Nepal at 5:30 pm on the day to decide the group fate.

In the semifinals on Sept 28, Group A champions India will play Group B runners up at 2pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners Bangladesh at 6pm both at the same venue.

The final match will be held on Sept 30 at 6pm.