The Bangladesh team leave for Bhutan tomorrow morning with the aim of retaining the title of the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship, which they won at home last year.
Golam Rabbani Choton's young charges had emerged unbeaten champions in the first edition, held in Dhaka in December last year. And the team are confident of repeating that feat despite playing away from home in the high altitude of Thimphu when the six-nation event gets underway on August 9.
Bangladesh were pitted in Group B alongside Nepal and Pakistan while Group A features India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The final will take place on August 18.
During a press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) House yesterday, Choton claimed that this team is better than the one that won the title last year, despite the fact that five new players have joined their ranks.
“There are obvious challenges like the high altitude in Bhutan and the fact that the other teams have improved in the meantime. But we have improved more than them. We have worked hard on the tactical, technical, social and psychological aspects of the players, which is why I am confident we can defend our title,” the successful women's coach said.
The Bangladesh team, with 42 players from different age-levels ranging up to the senior team, have been training continuously over the last year or so and have also played a number of practice matches, which should make the team a more competitive one.
Although Bangladesh won all their matches last time around, they did struggle, especially in the final against India, to find the back of the net but they eventually won 1-0. The coach believes the issue with scoring goals has been somewhat resolved.
“We had scoring issues last time around. But this year we played a four-nation tournament in Hong Kong where we played against teams like Malaysia, Hong Kong and Iran and eight different players scored. So that issue of scoring should not be a factor this time,” Choton added.
The coach claimed that the five new faces have proven their worth in the JFA Cup tournament and in trials. Four out of the five excluded players were left out due to poor performances while the other one, Marzia Khatun, exceeded the age-limit.
Although the team has not played a practice match against any international side ahead of this big assignment, the coach informed that they had enough game-time as the under-15 team have been playing matches regularly against the under-18 and under-19 teams as a part of their preparations.
Skipper Maria Manda echoed her coach's confidence. “Our target was to become champions last time and we did that. We have had regular practice and played matches as well. So hopefully we can come back with a good outcome,” she said.
The press conference was attended, among others, by BFF strategic and technical director Paul Smalley, BFF ex-co and FIFA member Mahfuza Akter Kiron and Walton Group's senior operative director Iqbal Bin Anwar.
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