Roja savours Bangladesh win
After guiding her team to their first triumph in the AFC Under- 16 Women’s Championship China 2015 qualifiers at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday, India striker Roja Devi heaved a sigh of relief.
Riding on the 15- year old’s twin strikes, India upset hosts Bangladesh in a Group B encounter.
“I am very happy. My team mates cheered for me and embraced me. It felt great,” Roja said.
The victory saw India open their account with three points from two matches while Bangladesh remained on six from three matches.
“It was an amazing win,” said coach Maymol Rocky. “We just had to beat Bangladesh, not only for the neighbour country rivalry but also because we needed to win after what happened in the first match.”
India led till the 70th minute before succumbing to two goals against Iran in their opening game on Friday.
“Our girls were good against
Riding on the 15- year old Roja’s twin strikes, India upset hosts Bangladesh in a Group B encounter
Iran, but they were excellent tonight,” Rocky said.
India were trailing by the 20th minute when Bangladesh forward Sanjida scored from the spot, outfoxing goalkeeper Shreya Hooda.
“It happens in big matches. Shreya has learnt so much from this. She had made far tougher saves than this in the match itself,” the coach said.
India now take on the UAE who have hammered 23 goals in three matches so far.
“I hope we keep up the momentum. This was a good morale boosting win,” the coach said.