Bangladesh reach SAFF U-17 final with win over Pakistan

Bangladesh booked their place in the SAFF U-17 Championship final defeating Pakistan 2-0 in Thursday’s first semi-final at Colombo Racecourse Ground. The defending finalists struck twice in the space of a minute in the first half to seize control of the match. Nazmul Huda Faisal opened the scoring before Apu Rahman doubled the lead moments later. This sudden, overwhelming flurry of goals in the opening minutes effectively decided the contest, leaving Pakistan with a steep mountain to climb for the remainder of the game. Bangladesh, who advanced to the last four as group champions, began aggressively and capitalised on a costly blunder from Pakistan goalkeeper Samar Razzak in just the third minute. Razzak’s poor throw gifted possession to Apu whose...