Prity confident of better showing against India

The lavish lobby of Planet Hollywood Beach Resort at Utorda Beach in Goa was buzzing with activity on Friday afternoon. The cheerful presence of the Indian players added even more life to the atmosphere as the Blue Tigresses moved around in relaxed spirits.

In stark contrast, however, Bangladesh players wore serious expressions despite opening their SAFF Women’s Championship campaign with victory over Maldives on Thursday night.

Their subdued mood was understandable, even though the players were given a full day of rest -- apart from a morning walk on the beach and a brief ice-bath recovery session -- before resuming full-scale training on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s crucial group-stage clash against India.

Forward Sauravi Akanda Prity, who scored one of Bangladesh’s four goals against Maldives, admitted the team were disappointed with their overall performance despite collecting all three points.

“We couldn’t play the way we wanted against Maldives, so there isn’t much to celebrate about the win,” Prity told reporters at the team hotel. “We have a match against India on Sunday. If we win that game, we will be happy.”

Bangladesh created numerous scoring opportunities against Maldives but wasted several chances, while defensive lapses also allowed them to concede twice -- despite having kept clean sheets in their previous two meetings against the same opponents in regional competitions.

Prity revealed that the players had spent little time discussing the performance among themselves.

“We haven’t talked much about it,” she said. “The coach is happy because the main target was to get three points, and we achieved that.”

The coaching staff, meanwhile, held meetings to analyse the team’s mistakes, review data from the Maldives match and finalise plans for India.

Despite the concerns, Prity remains confident Bangladesh can produce a much-improved display against the five-time champions.

“Playing against India gives us extra energy. We always perform well against them,” she said. “India are a strong side and also our neighbours, which creates added motivation.”

The young forward also backed the team’s ability to improve in front of goal and said she had no issue with starting on the bench.

“The coach probably feels the others are better options in the starting eleven, and we respect his decision,” Prity said. “But we need to improve our finishing, and we are constantly working on that.”