Smarting from a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Bangladesh, India eye full points in their next game against Nepal in the U-19 Women's SAFF Championship, to be played here on Tuesday. India conceded an injury-time goal to leave the field empty handed against the hosts on Sunday. Despite the Young Tigresses delivering a strong performance against the home team, the match appeared destined for a draw. However, in the closing moments, Bangladesh emerged successful once again over India. ISL 2023–24: Hyderabad FC Continue Search for Three Points, To Lock Horns Against Odisha FC.

“We entered the match with confidence, expecting a victory, but a minor error cost us the game. Despite a number of attempts on goal, our own mistakes stopped us from capitalising on those opportunities. While our defence was solid, our focus remained on attacking,” said Neha.

“Our strategy was to leverage our strengths, but unfortunately, we fell short. Bangladesh proved to be faster, and we knew they had a lot of speed, and regardless of my effort in the first half, my shot from the left turned into a low strike, missing the goal. Although we executed good crosses, they went unconverted,” she added.

The challenge for the Indian players would be to quickly put behind this loss and focus on the next game here at the BSSSMK Stadium. In the previous SAFF U-19 Women's Championship 2019, India secured a victory over Nepal with a solitary goal before advancing to face Bangladesh in the final. ISL 2023–24: Syria’s Thaer Krouma Joins Mumbai City FC From Syrian Premier League Defending Champions Al Fotuwa SC.

A similar scenario will unfold if India secure either a draw or a win against Nepal. Meanwhile, Haryana's Neha found her way into football under the influence of Renu, who also comes from her locality and is a striker in the senior national women's team.

Drawing inspiration from forward Manisha Kalyan, Neha said, "I aspire to challenge Manisha Di someday, who is my idol."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)