The history of the Women's SAFF Championship does not have an 'upset' result. Namely the exact lack of shocking results. History will be written in 2024 when defending champions Bangladesh took on Pakistan at the Dashrath Stadium on Sunday, lasting 90 minutes. But not written. Pakistan was leading 1-0 till injury time showed 6 minutes.

But in the first minute, Bangladesh managed to equalize. Sam Sunhar headed in a sweet cross from Ritu Porna Chakma. Had Bangladesh lost this match, they would have feared elimination from the tournament. But the draw means that Bangladesh will now try for a favorable result in their final match against India. 

Pakistan will eagerly await that match. After this result, India have already reached the semi-finals of Group 'A' before the last match as they have three points. They beat Pakistan in the opening match.

"Our game was excellent today, but we were not able to score goals," Bangladeshi coach Peter Butler said, "Whoever criticizes Bangladesh's game today, I say, does not understand football." But even if you are constantly attacking in football, there may not be goals. Football is like that. One might ask, why is football so cruel? I say, life itself is cruel. Nothing comes easy in football, you have to work hard for it.

Butler, a former midfielder who played for West Ham and West Brom in English football, claims that the performance of his women's team is better than the men's team of Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh was completely overshadowed throughout the match. He was constantly aggressive. But the goal was not coming out. In the second half, the ball was completely in Pakistan's half of the field. Bangladesh barely managed to equalize in injury time.

Pakistan's hope from India

"We will now have hope from India that we will get a favorable result," said Adil Rizki, coach of the Pakistani team. According to him, in their last match of the league stage, Pakistan played as planned. That is largely defensive. Our women's team is playing an international tournament for the first time in a year, so don't expect too much. As much as we played today, it was too much.'

He added, 'It is always disappointing to concede a goal in the last minute. The same thing happened today. I also say, this is football. Thus, scoring a goal at the last minute is also a part of football. Two years ago when we played in Kathmandu we were playing football after a long time. Now we have traveled some distance and reached here. So I am happy with our team's performance. We are now optimistic about India.

Pakistan took the lead in the 32nd minute with the goal of Zamin Samin Malik. Zamin scored on a poor clearance by Bangladeshi defender Afeda Khandakar. Two minutes before the end of the first half, Ritu Porna's shot hit the post and Bangladesh had to wait for a long time for the equaliser. Pakistan got that chance in the 77th minute of the match, which, if they had used it, would have assured them the win.

But Savina Hanif missed a goal against Bangladeshi goalkeeper Rapana Chakma even in a one-on-one situation. Ultimately, this could prove very costly for Pakistan. Pakistan was defeated by Bangladesh by 6 goals in the league stage match two years ago. But this time he has presented a tough challenge to the same Bangladesh. Coach Rizki said, "The moment we return home, our heads will be upright." After holding Nepal to a draw, Bhutan will be upbeat and will try to defeat Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka themselves are also buoyed as they have three points from their win over Maldives.

is difficult for Nepal. On Sunday, two kinds of news came for Nepali football. A good one. Another bad one. Better than that, the star striker Savitra will be an achievement in the match against Maldives. The only question is, will Savitra, who has come from France after a long journey, play from the beginning or will she enter as a substitute?

Coach Rajendra Tamang has said that Savitra will play against Maldives. The bad news is that two of Nepal's key players will not only miss the tournament, they will have to undergo surgery and be out for a long time, up to 9 months. Hirakumari Bhujel and Deepa Shahi suffered ACL injuries in the match against Bhutan.