The SAFF U-16 Championship 2023 final, played on September 10 at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, saw India defeat Bangladesh by a score of 2-0 to win the championship.
Levis Lairenjam and India’s captain, Mate Ngamgouhou, applied sustained pressure to the Bangladeshi defence throughout the first half, leading to numerous scoring opportunities. A chance that seemed especially good came to pass in the 34th minute. Mohammad Arbash, an Indian attacker, chased after a long ball lofted towards the goal area of Bangladesh. Arbash took the opportunity after noticing that Bangladeshi custodian Nahidul Islam had left his position to make a clearance effort.
As the teams neared halftime, Islam was able to cleanly punch the ball out of harm’s way and maintain the 1-0 score.
India maintained its vigour as it began the second half. Their tenacious pursuit of a second goal was rewarded in the 74th minute with an exquisite shot. Before brilliantly reversing play to pass the ball to Levis Zangminlun on the other flank, Samson Ahongshangbam started a promising move down the left wing. Zangminlun outsmarted his opponent by executing a quick one-two pass with Vishal Yadav, which allowed him to enter an empty area. He took a time to centre himself before launching a powerful left-footed shot that soared into the goal and doubled India’s lead.