A tough reality check for Sanjida and Co

The sight of the glittering inaugural SAFF Women's Club Championship trophy sparked dreams of lifting it for Sanjida Akhter, but reality soon set in when the Nasrin SC forward led an inexperienced side into the five-team tournament.

India's East Bengal FC were crowned champions on Saturday in Kathmandu, Nepal, while Bangladesh Women's Football League champions Nasrin SC finished bottom of the table with two draws and two defeats, without registering a single win.

"When I first saw the trophy, I felt we could have brought it home had we come with the full-strength squad that won the Bangladesh Women's Football League title," Nasrin SC captain Sanjida told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday. "But the reality was that we went there with a squad full of U-17 and U-20 players."

The 24-year-old winger, who has been out of the national setup, was the only experienced campaigner in a Nasrin SC side largely made up of age-level players.

While national discards Sabina Khatun, Masura Parvin, and Krishna Rani Sarkar were reluctant to participate, several senior players -- Maria Manda, Monica Chakma, Ritu Porna Chakma, Rupna Chakma, Shamsunnahar Sr, Tohura Khatun, and Sheuli Azim -- were unavailable. All of them had been part of Nasrin SC's title-winning Bangladesh Women's Football League campaign last year but were barred from joining the team due to the Bangladesh women's national side's preparations for next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia.

"I really felt bad when I saw that the Pakistan club brought around 90 percent of their national players, and I spoke to their captain, who is 32," said Sanjida. "East Bengal brought seven Ugandan players along with three to four national players, while the clubs from Bhutan and Nepal also featured senior national players."

Sanjida had trained with Nasrin SC for only 10 to 12 days before the tournament, having been sidelined for nearly four months while attending the AFC B licence coaching course.

"Nasrin SC might not have achieved good results, but the young girls did not perform poorly," Sanjida said. "Our team was mostly made up of U-17 players, and I believe they gained valuable experience playing against mature, experienced and quality players."

She added that there were no regrets regarding their performance.

Responding to a query, Sanjida said, "I am 100 percent sure we could have written our name in the SAFF record books had we been able to play alongside our experienced players, because even five senior players can change the fate of any match."