Bangladesh Crushes Sri Lanka 4-0 – Sri Lanka Knocked Out of SAFF U-17 Championship

By Susil Premalal

Bangladesh recorded an impressive 4-0 victory over Sri Lanka in their Group ‘A’ encounter of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup Under-17 Boys Championship 2025, played yesterday at the Racecourse Grounds, Colombo. 
With this defeat, Sri Lanka failed to register a single win in the group stage and was eliminated from the knockout stage of the tournament. 
Earlier, Sri Lanka lost their opening match 2-0 to Nepal, and yesterday’s result ended their campaign in the championship.
Accordingly, Bangladesh and Nepal from Group ‘A’ and Pakistan and India from Group ‘B’ advanced to the knockout stage. 
Bangladesh led 1-0 at halftime, with Mohammed Arif scoring the opening goal in the 18th minute. Star performer Mohammed Rifas Kazi sealed the game with a brilliant hat-trick in the 47th, 63rd, and 88th minutes, earning him the Best Player of the Match award. 
Despite three golden scoring opportunities for the opponents during the first half, Sri Lankan goalkeeper Rahman Imtiage made outstanding saves to keep the margin from being worse. However, Sri Lanka’s players failed to display their expected skill level, which was clearly visible throughout the match.