Bhutan beat Nepal 4-3 on penalty shoot out to clinch the third spot in South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women’s championship 2018 in Changlingmithang, Thimphu on August 18.

The match saw Bhutan’s Yeshey Bidha play critical role, scoring an equaliser at the 66th minute.

Bhutan’s goalkeeper Kinzang Dema saved two penalty shots to help Bhutan win the third position for the second time.

Deki Yangdon scored early opener to give girls the confidence and energy.

Bhutan faced Nepal after suffering 0-5 loss in the semi final and 0-1 to India in the final group stage match.

Nepal faced the host with an advantage of having scored one goal against India in the semi final and lost to Bangladesh by only three goals.

Yeshey Bidha was named the player of the match. She said Nepal was a tough opponent but the team worked hard.

Last year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal settled for 1-1 draw. However, Bhutan won the third position owing to goal difference advantage.

Later at 7pm, India’s Sunita Munda scored a lone goal of the SAFF U-15 women’s championship final at the 66th minute to crown her team as the champions of South Asia.

India’s defender Naorem Priyanka Devi was named the most valuable player of the championship.

Runners up, Bangladesh  recorded the highest number of goals in this edition at 22 goals.

Bangladesh was close to winning three titles in a row in 2017-18 after the team lifted four nations’ cup in Hongkong, following SAFF win in December last year.

Nima

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