Bangladesh made a winning start in the ongoing SAFF U-20 Championship 2024 after they beat Sri Lanka by 2-0 goals in their first match at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal on Tuesday.

But forward Mirajul Islam, who opened the account for Bangladesh with the assist of another forward Rabby Hossen Rahul in the 17th minute, grabbed all the attention through his celebration. After taking the lead, Mirajul ran to the bench before the celebration and wore a white-coloured jersey. There was a message there: ‘In the memory of Mugdho and Abu Sayeed, remember we achieved the country with blood by fighting’.

The youngster started to get a lot of positive response from the country’s football fans due to this kind of celebration and the incident became more important than the victory of Bangladesh.

Captain Piash Ahmmed Nova sealed the fate of the match in the 85th minute for Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka, who earlier made a frustrating start as they suffered a 0-1 goal defeat to hosts Nepal on Sunday, were eliminated from the tournament after the day’s defeat.  

The three-time runners-up Bangladesh confirmed their spot for the semifinals with the hosts with one match to spare.