A record rout to open Bangladesh’s Asiad

A bold tactical gamble backfired spectacularly as a youthful Bangladesh side suffered their heaviest defeat in history, torn apart 10-0 by a relentless North Korea in their Asian Games Group F opener in Osaka on Monday.

British head coach Peter Butler rolled the dice by benching established stalwarts like Ritu Porna Chakma, Monika Chakma, and the Shamsunnahar duo. Instead, he handed starting shirts to raw youngsters including Momita Khatun, Arpita Biswas, and Surovi Afrin.

The three-time gold medallists showed no mercy. North Korea came out swinging at the Nagai Stadium, with Jon Ryong Jong striking twice in a devastating opening 10 minutes. Shell-shocked and trailing 3-0 by the 18th minute, Butler hooked teenage defender Arpita for expert Sheuli Azim. The change failed to stem the bleeding, as a helpless Bangladesh trudged into half-time 6-0 down.

A desperate triple substitution at the break saw Monika, Ritu Porna, and Shamsunnahar Jr finally thrown into the fire. While goalkeeper Mile Akter produced a string of point-blank saves, North Korea kept their foot firmly on the gas. Second-half strikes from Ri Song, Jong Kum, Kim Kyong, and a late finish from Han Jin Hong sealed the historic rout. The result eclipsed Bangladesh's previous record defeat, a 9-0 loss to Thailand in 2013.

Butler pulled no punches in a brutal post-match autopsy. "They play a tempo which our girls are not used to and... we're not good enough at this level," he confessed. "Sadly we got hammered. I take full responsibility for that on the pitch, off the pitch I don't."

The Englishman then launched a blistering critique of the off-field setup, exposing deep internal fractures.

"We got one girl there who is only 15. We don't have a bonafide league," Butler fired. "The president has been super supportive; other people haven't ringing up, having conference calls with players in the midst of the night. You can't build a team like that."

Butler pointed to a divided dressing room and external interference as major stumbling blocks for the squad.

"We don't have a bona fide league, and I'm not making excuses because I take full responsibility for that result today... but we've got a different cohort. We've got an older group and a young group. There are issues regarding what's going on. I can't control what goes on off the field."

Looking ahead to Thursday's daunting clash against South Korea, Butler remained defiant about his tournament strategy. "Whether we lost 1-0 or 10-0 didn't really matter because our objective is the Myanmar game. The South Korean game will probably be very much similar, but we've got to see where we go from here."