The sun was starting to break through Dhaka’s morning haze when a bus pulled up beside the pitch at the Bashundhara Kings Arena just after 5.30am. As the doors hissed open, the girls tumbled out one by one, hair tied back, boots slung over shoulders, already wide awake and buzzing with energy.
It was the start of another dawn practice session for the Bangladesh women’s national football team, but spirits were high. With internationals on the horizon and competition growing stronger, the girls had no time to spare. At the front of the squad was Afeida Khandaker, the fierce and quietly confident captain who recently led Bangladesh to qualify for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time. “I want our girls to be recognised for their brilliance and our recent victory did exactly that,” the 18-year-old defender says proudly. “But we are only just getting started. We want to show the world what Bangladesh is truly capable of.”
