For the first time in history, the Bangladesh women’s football team will appear on the main stage of the Asia Cup. To gear up for the tournament, the BFF arranged a tri-nation series in Dhaka. However, Bangladesh suffered defeats against both Malaysia and Azerbaijan.
Despite the losses, head coach Peter Butler expressed satisfaction, emphasizing that Azerbaijan is significantly stronger and higher-ranked.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 — 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He added that he was impressed with the team’s effort, praising them for not collapsing the way Malaysia had in their match.
Butler Proud Despite Defeat: “We Fought Until the End”
Bangladesh looked disorganized against Malaysia earlier, and although they improved against Azerbaijan, consistency remained an issue. Butler admitted the performance felt different this time:
“𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑. 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚’𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒂, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
Bangladesh conceded two goals, both in the latter stages of the game. Butler mentioned that the first goal came from “a moment of carelessness,” but insisted the match stayed competitive until the final minutes.
The team has now lost four consecutive matches — two away games in Thailand and two at home. Butler, however, remains optimistic despite the results:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒘 — 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝑰 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He pointed out the harsh realities the team faces: no proper training facilities, no gym, no domestic league, and very limited resources.
The coach expressed his frustration with unrealistic expectations:
“𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒑-𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
Focus on Strong Opponents Before the Asia Cup
There are still three months left before the Asia Cup, and Bangladesh currently has no fixed training schedule or planned warm-up matches. Butler, however, wants tougher challenges:
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝑨𝑭𝑭-𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔.”
He noted that Azerbaijan regularly plays against European opponents and recently lost only 3–0 to Switzerland, the same margin as Bangladesh.
Despite the setbacks, Butler believes the team can grow if they keep pushing against stronger opposition.
Also Read: World Cup Predictions: Probability of Each Team’s Victory
