Ritu Porna brace takes Bangladesh to verge of history

Ritu Porna Chakma scored a spectacular brace to guide Bangladesh to the verge of a maiden Asian Cup berth as Bangladesh beat favourites Myanmar 2-1 in their second qualification fixture of Group C at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon on Wednesday.

The left-footed wondergirl from Rangamati opened the scoring in the 19th minute, latching on to a rebound from her own freekick and then curling the shot past the diving Myanmar goalkeeper as Bangladesh dominated early exchanges. 

As the hosts, who are 73 places above Bangladesh in FIFA ranking, desperately tried to find a winning goal, Ritu Porna struck the fatal blow in the 72nd minute with a superb left-footed shot over the Myanmar keeper from the left side of the box, silencing the partisan crowd in at the stadium. . 

Although Myanmar pulled one goal back in the 89 th minute, with Win Win nodding home a low cross, Bangladesh held on to the slender lead and take pole position on the table.

The win took Bangladesh to six points from two matches ahead of their last group match against the group's lowest-ranked Turkmenistan on Saturday.

Myanmar, with three points, will take on Bahrain earlier on the same day.

With only one team going through to the Women's Asian Cup to be held in Australia in March next year, Bangladesh will need only a draw against Turkmenistan to confirm a historic spot.  

Bangladesh women have never previously featured in the Asian Cup. They had played in two qualifying campaigns -- in 2014 and in 2022 -- but lost all five of their matches, conceding 25 goals against none scored.

Topping the group would also open up Bangladesh's chances of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.