The Group-B qualifying round of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup kicks off today in Dhaka with four teams, including hosts Bangladesh, vying for a place in
the final round scheduled to be held sometime next year.
The competition will get underway with a match between Iran and Philippines at 4:00pm at the Bangabandhu National Stadium before Bangladesh face top-ranked Thailand at 7:00pm at the same venue.
The top four teams of the four groups will go through to the final round and join Australia, South Korea, China and Japan, four semifinalists of the previous tournament.
Bangladesh, playing for the first time in the qualifying campaign, will start the competition as clear underdogs against Thailand, who are ranked sixth in the continent and 29th in the world.
Bangladesh on the other hand are ranked 23rd in Asia and 108th in the world which only underlined the gulf of difference between them and the other sides of the competition.
Naturally the hosts are aiming not to concede many goals against Thailand.
`We don’t have any clear ideas about Thailand. My main target will be to observe their game in the first 10 minutes. After that I will plan my tactics accordingly, whether it will be defensive or offensive.’
If we are unable to match them in quality then we will try to concede lesser goals,’ said Syed Golam Jilani, coach of the Bangladesh team in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
On Sunday, Jilani had told the reporters of his wish to create an upset over a higher-ranked opposition but he was not so optimistic ahead of their clash against Thailand today.
‘It’s hard to tell whether we can create an upset or not. Thailand is ranked 29th in the FIFA rankings. The difference is evident between us.’
‘Our girls are playing football for the last seven years whereas they [Thailand] are playing the game for three or four decades. So we are amateurs compared to them,’ added Jilani.
Thailand, however, are treating Bangladesh as dangerous challengers seeing the serious interest among the media and the officials and they are planning to take the field with a full-strength team.
‘We are not taking the hosts lightly. We are well aware of them. It will create pressure on us if the crowds appeared in the stadium tomorrow [Tuesday] alongside the media and officials of the BFF. So, we will field our best eleven against Bangladesh,’ said Thailand head coach Piyakul Kawnamkang.
Piyakul also informed about his team’s preparations and target in the qualifiers.
‘We have had a 90-day preparation period and we also played in the professional league. We played five practice matches against the local clubs during the camp. Every team is same to us.’
‘The difference between Bangladesh and Thailand is tactics. Ranking is not a factor,’ the Thailand coach said in the pre-tournament press conference on Monday.
Meanwhile, Iran and Philippines also wished to begin the event with a win and they are fully prepared to encounter each other.
‘Every team is difficult. We take it as a big challenge. There is no chance of taking any side lightly. Before thinking about the other matches, we have to beat the Philippines first,’ said Helena Costa, the Portuguese coach of Iran.
‘Considering the ranking, Thailand are clear favourites but we want to qualify at any cost and we are fully prepared to qualify for the final round,’ she added.
A large number of players come from the United States to represent the Philippines team and they were also confident of securing top spot in the group.
‘No participating teams want to lose. They want to win and I want to win also. And it’s going to be a different starting eleven for every game. We have prepared our way. It is possible to qualify. We will play with our tactics,’ said Philippines coach Ernie Nierras.
-With New Age input
