Sept 06, Kathmandu- For the first time, Nepal and Bhutan are competing in the opening match of the South Asian Women's Football (Women's SAFF) tournament starting on Tuesday at Dasharath Stadium at 5:30 pm. Along with the host Nepal, 7 countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Maldives are participating in the competition.

Where the tournament is being played in two groups. In Group 'A', former winners India, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are competing in Group 'B' with hosts Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. After the group stage matches, the top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Even though former runner-up Nepal has always created a strong image in the group, it has remained innocent in the finals. This time too, Nepal will face Bhutan to maintain its strong impression in the group stage.

Nepal and Bhutan head to head

Nepal has scored 19 goals in the last three clean matches against Bhutan. Sabitra Bhandari has scored the most 8 goals against Bhutan including a double hat-trick. She scored 6 goals alone in the 2016 SAFF.

Nepal scored 8 goals against Bhutan in the first SAFF held in 2014. At that time, Sajna Rana, Anu Lama, Deepa Adhikari scored 2 goals each, Menuka Giri and Sabitra Bhandari scored 1 goal each.

Similarly, in the 2016 SAFF, Nepal scored 8 goals against Bhutan. While Sabitra Bhandari scored 6 goals (double hat-trick), Sharmila Thapa and Krishna Khatri scored 1-1 goals. In the last match in 2019 in Nepal's Biratnagar, Nepal scored only 3 goals. At the same time, Manjali Kumari Yonjan, Sabitra Bhandari and Niru Thapa scored equal 1-1 goals for Nepal.