Young Tigresses eye perfect finish after sealing SAFF U17 title

India’s Young Tigresses sealed the SAFF U17 Women’s Championship 2025 title with a game to spare, but coach Joakim Alexandersson and midfielder Bonifilia Shullai insist the job is not finished yet

Hyderabad: The Young Tigresses may have clinched the SAFF U17 Women’s Championship 2025 title with a game to spare, but the job is not done yet, according to head coach Joakim Alexandersson.

Five games, five clean sheets, 27 goals. It is already the highest tally of goals India have ever scored in a single SAFF age-group women’s tournament. Should the Young Tigresses keep another clean sheet in the last game against Bangladesh on Sunday, it will be the first time India complete a SAFF age-group women’s tournament without conceding a goal.

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The title is in the bag, but there are still records to be chased. Alexandersson’s girls will lift the trophy on Sunday evening, but they want it with a perfect record of six wins in six. Only that, he said, will give them the proper champion feeling.

“We are going into the last game with the mindset to win. I told the girls, ‘We are here to try to develop the team, and for that, we have to try and give our very best in every game.’ So even though we have already won the tournament, I still want to see a very good performance in the last match,” said Alexandersson.

“I think our performance has been very good overall. I am starting to see more of the things that we’ve been working on in the attacking actions. So far, I am pleased about it,” he added.

Midfielder Bonifilia Shullai concurred with the coach’s words. She said, “Even now, I don’t feel like we are champions yet. We believe the job is not done until the trophy is in our hands and we have that gold medal. There’s still one more match to go, and we want to win all six games, keeping clean sheets along the way.”

The 15-year-old was one of the 14 players who were runners-up to Bangladesh in the SAFF U16 Women’s Championship last year and will finally get her hands on the trophy this time. Bonifilia scored the second goal in India’s 2-0 win over Bangladesh in the first leg of matches last week.

“It feels very special because after last year’s experience, not only for me but also for the rest of the players who were part of that U16 squad, this is redemption. We lost then, but this time we came back with a stronger mindset. For me, this tournament has been a lesson that every time you fail or get knocked down, you can always rise again, stronger than before,” said Bonifilia.