Sports Desk //

90 minutes are over. The third minute of the extra 6 minutes is underway. The nerves in the press box of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium were at their peak. At that moment, Shamsunnahar Junior entered the box far inside and pushed the ball in front of the goal line, where Sagarika, who was substituted in the second half, and two Nepalese defenders were present. The ball went into the net from within the tangle of three people!

A moment of relief from the sweltering heat and intense pressure in Goa. Bangladesh stunned thousands of Nepalese who came to the gallery with joy. Despite falling behind, Bangladesh advanced to the final of the eighth SAFF Women’s Championship by beating Nepal 2-1 in a dramatic last-minute match. And that kept alive the dream of a hat-trick title for the red-green girls.

But when the match started at 4 pm local time, the weather on the field was literally scorching. Running in the scorching sun and intense heat was a challenge. Those who had their eyes set on watching the two-time champions Bangladesh play their football in the match had nothing but a heavy heart in the first 45 minutes. If the story of this time had to be told in one line, Bangladesh left the field in the first half with the relief of turning around from the edge of the ditch, the scoreline was 1-1 with Rituparna’s incredible Olympic goal.

Nepal defender Puja Rana, Bimala BK or forward Deepa Shahi – thanks to playing in the Dhaka League, Bangladesh’s strengths and weaknesses are at their fingertips. Nepal seemed to be playing with that familiar foursome today. It was hard to recognize the Bangladesh team that took the field from the beginning of the match.

Sabinara shook the field with the power she had in the last two matches, today was the exact opposite. It started with a lot of fear. There was extreme lack of coordination in passing, no buildup, the defense was losing its nerve and giving the ball to the opponent. Seeing the disorganized look of the field, it was clear from the press box that conceding a goal was only a matter of time.

The sound of the Nepalese fans gathered in a corner of the gallery was rising in the sky of Margao. Nepal took the lead in the 22nd minute of the match, following the roar. Nepal’s Geeta Rana stunned Bangladesh in the middle of the crowd and scored a goal (1-0) from a corner.

Bangladesh seemed to collapse even more after conceding a goal. Maria Manda, who had once been difficult to get the ball from, was now being effortlessly taken away by the energetic Nepalese. And Rituparna Chakma on the wing?

She was just a shadow of herself for a large part of the first half. In the 36th minute of the match, the gap could have been 2-0. Nepal’s Preeti Rai’s bullet-speed shot was blocked by Bangladesh goalkeeper Mili and the match could have ended there. Luck was still with Bangladesh.

Seeing the situation, the coach made a big decision in the dugout in the 39th minute. Umelah and Preeti were taken out and Tahura Khatun and Shamsunnahar Junior were brought on. But the backpasses that were messed up from a distance and the innocent look of the attack were not going to go away.

History had it that although Nepal had won 3 of the previous 5 matches between these two teams, Bangladesh had beaten Nepal in the finals of the last two matches on their own soil and lifted the title.

Those champions suddenly woke up in the first minute of added time of the first half. Bangladesh got a free-kick from a distance in the box. Maria’s free-kick turned the corner when the Nepalese defender’s head hit the corner. Rituparna directly hit the ball into the net with a left-footed corner kick!

An eye-catching ‘Olympic goal’ from a direct corner. With this one goal, the Bangladesh team seemed to come back to life. The entire camp shook itself, regaining its lost confidence before going to the dressing room.

With the score tied at 1-1, Monika Chakma was brought in to take control of the midfield after the break. However, Nepal maintained its dominance in the second half. They kept shaking Bangladesh’s defense with one attack after another. On the other hand, Bangladesh tried to counterattack by holding their own. A similar counterattack gave them the opportunity to go ahead in the 64th minute of the match. Monika Chakma jumped and headed Shamsunnahar Junior’s measured cross, but Bangladesh did not celebrate when the ball went outside the post.

By then, the intensity of the sun had subsided at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. As the match progressed, the excitement and nerves increased. After overcoming the fear of the first half, Bangladesh tried their best to fight in the second half. Sagarika came on the field to increase the edge of the attack. In the 78th minute, Sagarika’s fast shot from a great through pass by Monika was incredibly saved by Nepal’s goalkeeper Anjila Tumbapo for a corner. Immediately after that, Shaheda Akhtar Ripa was sent on the field after Monika was removed.

When the match went into added time, almost everyone assumed that the game would go to an extra 30 minutes. That’s when the magic moment came in the 93rd minute. Shamsunnahar’s intelligent pass and Sagarika’s great effort from the middle of the crowd. Although it seemed that Sagarika had scored the goal at first glance, the official match report of SAFF later showed it as a suicide by Preeti Rai. Bangladesh wrote a fairy tale in the Goa field and once again made it to the SAFF final in red and green.

Rituparna was named the man of the match. Bangladesh will face the winner of the second semi-final between India and Bhutan today in the final on June 6. What happens next in the final is a matter of debate, but the way the Marias turned around from a corner and snatched victory today to book their ticket to the final will be remembered for a long time.
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