Butler sounds alarm despite victory

​Defending champions Bangladesh secured their place in the SAFF Women’s Championship semi-finals with a 4-2 victory over the Maldives, but head coach Peter James Butler was left visibly frustrated by his team’s profligacy and shocking defensive lapses.

Despite taking a comfortable 2-0 lead inside 34 minutes, starting with Anika Rania Siddiqui’s strike a mere 11 seconds into the match, Bangladesh eventually surrendered their advantage.

The Maldives, recovering from an 11-0 thrashing by India, capitalised on uncharacteristic defensive blunders to level the score at 2-2 early in the second half.

Bangladesh ultimately relied on a goalkeeping error and a late goal to avoid a monumental upset at an empty Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Addressing the post-match, Butler expressed relief at the victory but bluntly criticised both his team’s finishing and the opposition’s highly defensive, disruptive tactics.

“I thought we played some really good football at times against a team which didn’t really come to play football,” Butler stated. “They came to just throw themselves on the ground, waste time, and really not look to play any football. However, I am disappointed with the chances we missed. It could have been 10-2, 12-2, 14-2, it could have been whatever you wanted.”

The rapid opening goal, followed by Umehla Marma’s powerful 34th-minute strike, initially suggested a routine thrashing.

But a midfield lapse in concentration allowed Mariyam Noora to score a stunning long-range lob just before halftime.

In the 56th minute, a defensive freeze by Afeida Khandaker gifted Aminath Fazla the equaliser, sparking panic on the Bangladesh bench.

Butler likened the tense, chaotic encounter to a classic domestic cup shock. “It was like a bit of an English FA Cup game where… you had to find a way to get over the line,” the British coach noted. “I just felt their keeper did very well for them. The other 10 constantly just threw themselves around on the floor and tried to slow the game down and slow the momentum.”

Reflecting on the unpredictable nature of the sport, Butler recalled past struggles to keep perspective.

“I cast my mind back to 2024 where everyone wrote us off and we were losing against Pakistan and we ended up equalising in the 90-whatever-it-was minute. Football can be a very, very strange game at times,” he added.

Forced to introduce key substitutes to salvage the match, Bangladesh retook the lead through an opportunistic 64th-minute goal from Sauravi Akanda Prity following a handling error, before Kohati Kisku added a fourth.

Butler dismissed suggestions of complacency, citing enforced squad rotation instead.

“I really impressed on the players not to take this team lightly, and I don’t think we did,” he explained. “I’ve had to change it around a lot tonight because we’ve got a few injuries. We had a little bit of a concern regarding Sheuli (Azim), we had another concern regarding Monika (Chakma). But no excuses. We won the game, and the most important thing was to win.”

With a semi-final spot guaranteed, Bangladesh face regional heavyweights India on 31 May to determine the group winner.

Butler warned that repeating these defensive errors will be heavily punished, though he expects a completely different tactical battle.

“When you play against teams like India, who are going to come at you, the whole complexion of the game is changed,” Butler concluded. “But we can play a lot better. Our final delivery has to be better, our finishing has to be better. And conceding a second goal is a major concern.”