KATHMANDU: Two South Asian football powerhouses, Nepal and Bangladesh, are set to face each other on Wednesday in the semifinals of the SAFF Women’s Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, one of India’s largest multipurpose stadiums. Both teams will aim to play aggressive football to secure their place in the final.

The head coach of the Nepali team, Nabin Neupane, is facing criticism as the team’s performance has fallen short of expectations. On the other side, Bangladesh’s head coach, Peter Butler, is also under considerable pressure. Contrary to many expectations, the defending champions, Bangladesh, entered the semifinals as group runners-up after losing 3-0 to India in their final group-stage match.

“Replicating the performances from our first and second matches won’t be enough. We must deliver an exceptional game against Bangladesh,” Neupane states.

The Nepali team playing in the SAFF tournament.

Nepal defeated Bhutan 1-0 in their opening match of the group stage. This result brought immense relief to Nepal, especially after recording a historic goalless draw against Bhutan in the previous edition. This exact victory also saved Nepal from having to clash with India in the semifinals for a third consecutive edition.

In 2022, Nepal defeated India 1-0 at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar to seal a final showdown against Bangladesh. Two years later, during another edition held on the same ground, the semifinal match ended in a 1-1 deadlock during regular time, after which Nepal secured a 4-2 win in the penalty shootout to face Bangladesh once again in the final.

However, the current Indian squad appears vastly different. After crushing the Maldives 11-0 in their tournament opener, India secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Bangladesh in their final group match to cruise into the semifinals.

Nepal might find some solace in the fact that Bangladesh’s performance has slightly declined compared to previous years. “Bangladesh’s gameplay does not seem as impactful as before, both in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers and this SAFF edition. However, they remain physically very strong. Therefore, we need to play more smartly and maintain strict discipline,” Neupane remarked.

Bangladesh under pressure

The 3-0 defeat against India has taken a heavy mental toll on the Bangladeshi squad. In the group stages of the last two editions of the SAFF Championship, this team had defeated India 3-0 and 3-1. However, Sunday’s loss has dealt a severe blow to Bangladesh, who are chasing a hat-trick of titles.

Following their failure to beat India, Bangladesh advanced to the semifinals as the group runners-up. To make matters worse, while India pulled off an 11-0 victory against the Maldives, Bangladesh could only manage a 4-2 win against the same opponents. Consequently, they have drawn Nepal as their semifinal opponents this time around. The team did not hold their regular training session in Goa on Monday. Instead, the players participated in a recovery session, which is typically organized the day after a match.

The team was scheduled to practice at the Bambolim Athletic Ground on Tuesday morning. However, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced that the practice was called off following the news of defender Shiuli Azim’s mother passing away.

Rashmi, Gita, and Mina during a practice session.

No players spoke to the media following the humiliating loss to India. However, speaking through the BFF’s media department, goalkeeping coach Masud Ahmed admitted that the team paid a heavy price because all departments failed to perform cohesion. “We couldn’t play according to our plan. Against a team like India, if all departments fail to perform collectively, you pay the price, and that is exactly what happened to us,” he stated.

He added that the defeat has severely dampened the team’s morale. Because of this, British coach Peter Butler has been holding individual counseling sessions with each player ahead of the match against Nepal. “We are constantly holding discussions with the players and working on how to solve our issues. We hope the team makes a strong comeback in the match against Nepal,” Ahmed said.

In recent times, the rivalry between Nepal and Bangladesh has shifted in balance. Nepal had moved closer to titles after securing 3-0 and 1-0 victories in the 2010 and 2012 semifinals. They also enjoyed a 3-0 win during the group stage of the 2019 tournament held at the Sahid Stadium in Biratnagar. However, Nepali football fans have been witness to the bitter truth that Bangladesh defeated Nepal 3-1 and 2-1 in the finals of the 2022 and 2024 editions, respectively, to lift the trophy.

Nepal’s finishing woes

In the past, Nepal maintained absolute dominance over all teams in the SAFF region except India. However, the equations have shifted somewhat since 2022. Propelled by the stellar performances of striker Sabitra Bhandari ‘Samba’ and the arrival of fresh talent, Nepal began challenging India as well.

During the 2022 SAFF Championship, a decisive goal from Rashmi Kumari Ghising helped Nepal defeat India in the semifinals to pave their way to the final. Nepal repeated their impressive performance against India in the subsequent edition as well. Following a controversial call by Bhutanese referee Choki Om—which disallowed a goal scored by Samba into an empty net—the match was halted for over 70 minutes. Despite trailing 1-0, Nepal managed a successful comeback. This pushed the game into a penalty shootout, which ultimately concluded in Nepal’s favor, largely due to the pivotal roles played by Samba and Preeti Rai.

In this edition, however, without the presence of Samba and Preeti, Nepal has struggled to showcase their expected aggressive and confident gameplay against opponents. While Nepal clinched a narrow victory against Bhutan courtesy of a decisive goal by Gita Rana, they had to struggle immensely to secure a 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in the next match. In the previous edition, Nepal had thoroughly dominated this same Sri Lankan team with a one-sided 6-0 victory.

From left: Rekha, Deepa, and Rashmi after scoring against Sri Lanka.

Midfielder Renuka Nagarkote, who scored her first international goal during the win against Sri Lanka, admits that the team is heavily missing Samba in the forward line. “If Samba were here, we probably would have secured a much better result,” she reflects.

In Samba’s absence, Anita Lamjel, who plays domestic football for the Tribhuvan Army Club, made her debut in the match against Bhutan. However, after she failed to deliver an impactful performance, she was replaced by Nepal Police Club’s Mina Deuba in the second match. Mina, who scored seven goals to power Nepal into the finals of the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship in Bangladesh last year, has barely made her presence felt on the pitch this time. As a result, she was subbed off and sent back to the bench by Anita in the 62nd minute. Nonetheless, the goals scored by Rashmi in the third minute of first-half injury time and by Renuka in the 62nd minute proved just enough to push Nepal into the semifinals this time.

While Nepal currently struggles in the forward line, midfielder Preeti Rai, who is known for creating goal opportunities, has now joined the squad. Her arrival is expected to provide a massive boost to the team. In Preeti’s absence, the Nepali squad relied heavily on right-crossers. Beyond that, goals have materialized from balls delivered inside the box by left-crossers.

In reality, Preeti was supposed to join the squad before the SAFF tournament even commenced. However, because her club, Cambodia’s Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng Women’s FC, delayed her release, she will only be arriving this Wednesday.