Bangladesh face Jordan in the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship qualifiers at the Kamalapur stadium today. In the opening match of the four-team event India take on Iran at the same venue.
Bangladesh, with only six players from the last SA Games squad, are confident to put up a good show against their opponents who will enjoy the advantage of height. The Jordanian girls are far ahead in terms of technique and tactics.
Bangladesh coach Mahmudul Alam Babu, who took over the sole responsibility after another coach Golam Rabbani Choton flew to Sri Lanka to attend the FIFA women’s football seminar. ‘We have worked hard to adopt a strategy that suits our girls, we have tried to make them fit and taught how to possess the ball, the only deficiency is experience,’ said Babu.
Babu believes his players have improved a lot in the last one and a half months. ‘I hope they will give a good fight as I have seen the fighting spirit among my players,’ said Babu who was shy to disclose any specific target.
Babu pinned his hopes on goalkeeper Sabina and forwards Maynu Marma and Sharmin Akhter. Midfielder Sabina Khatun also is expected to serve the team well.
Jordan on the other hand showed a great commitment towards their target as they took to the field within hours of their arrival on Saturday and they enjoyed their practice sessions.
Jordan’s coach Maher Abu Hantesh has no idea about his opponents but is ready to start full throttle. ‘We are here to qualify for the second round as we missed the last edition, I don’t have any idea about our opponents except Iran. They have a good technique and a good base of the game, but playing against the hosts is always difficult and we will try our best to make a winning start,’ said Maher.
India find an inspirational figure in their coach Shukla Dutta, a star forward of the eighties scoring more than five hundred goals in her career. ‘We have been training for the last four months and the squad contains only one player Kamala Devi, who won the gold medal in the SA Games football here, there are also two girls from West Bengal who have played in Dhaka in the Indo-Bangla Games. Iran will be tough nut to crack but in the age level tournament I believe the difference is not very much, the condition is known to us and we want to take advantage of it,’ said Shukla.
Iranian women football manager Nadira Maryam has set her eyes on winning the qualifiers. ‘Our players are very experienced as we are playing for the third time in the competition. We have been training for the tournament for the last four months and played three practice matches against a strong Thailand side and we won two of them. We want to continue the success here and win the meet,’ said Nadira.
