SAFF Women’s Championship: Bhutan makes history with goalless draw against Nepal (photos)

KATHMANDU: In a stunning match on Friday at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, Bhutan made history by holding the home team, Nepal, to a goalless draw in the SAFF Women’s Championship.

Despite creating several opportunities, Nepal could not convert any into a goal, marking the first time in SAFF history that Nepal failed to defeat Bhutan.

Nepal had previously dominated Bhutan in all four encounters, securing easy victories. In the last edition of the SAFF Women’s Championship, Nepal faced Bhutan in the opening game, winning 4-0 thanks to stellar performances from Nepali goal machine Sabitra Bhandari and Anita Basnet, who both scored two goals each.

However, in Friday’s match, Sabitra Bhandari was absent as she is currently playing professional football in France and is expected to arrive in Nepal only on Sunday.

In her place, head coach Rajendra Tamang assigned the attacking responsibilities to Rashmi Kumari Ghising, the top scorer in the first phase of the ANFA Women’s League with 18 goals in 9 matches.

Unfortunately, Rashmi could not replicate her league performance in the SAFF Championship.

As a result, coach Tamang substituted her with Anita Basnet in the 46th minute, but she too struggled to make an impact.

The first encounter between Nepal and Bhutan in the SAFF Women’s Championship dates back to 2014 during the group stage, where Nepal secured an 8-0 victory. That match also marked Sabitra Bhandari’s SAFF debut, where she scored her first goal in the 88th minute.

Two years later, during the 4th edition of the SAFF Championship held in India, Nepal and Bhutan faced off again in the group stage.

Sabitra Bhandari single-handedly scored six goals in that match, while Saru Limbu and Krishna Khatri added two more, giving Nepal a comfortable 8-0 victory. Sabitra went on to become the tournament’s top scorer with 12 goals, but Nepal’s campaign ended in the semifinals, where they lost 3-1 to India.

Since then, Nepal has hosted two editions of the SAFF Women’s Championship. Despite strong support from home fans, Nepal has been unable to dominate Bhutan as convincingly as before.

In the 2019 edition held at the Shahid Stadium in Biratnagar, Nepal defeated Bhutan 3-0. Similarly, in the previous edition at Dasharath Stadium, Nepal won 4-0.

Before Friday’s draw, Nepal had scored 23 goals against Bhutan without conceding any. While Nepal managed to maintain its clean sheet record, it couldn’t secure a win this time around.