The Group D campaign of AFC Under-16 Championship qualifying round kicks off today with hosts Bangladesh facing Saudi Arabia at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
United Arab Emirates are the third team of the competition.
Bangladesh, champions in recent SAFF Under-16 Championship, are expected to find it a much harder task against Saudi Arabia, who unlike their South Asian neighbours are believed to be superior technically and tactically.
Bangladesh Under-16 team enthralled the local fans with their mesmerising football in SAFF that raised the expectations on them.
Coach Syed Golam Jilani promised to maintain the same spirit though they lost three key players to injury and age problems.
Winger Sad Uddin and defender Khalil Bhuiyan, who played in the SAFF, had to be excluded from the team after MRI
report indicated that both of them crossed the 16 year mark. Another defender, Atiquzzaman, was ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
Jilani claimed he still have some good players at his disposal, who can make Saudi Arabia sweat.
‘I think there is a little difference between the teams at this level,’ Jilani said. ‘So, I hope my boys will try to repeat the performance that they produced in the SAFF Championship.
‘If they can carry on to that performance against Saudi Arabia, we can expect a positive result,’ added Jilani.
Saudi Arabia arrived in Bangladesh on September 10 after taking part in two tournaments – West Asian Cup and Gulf Cup.
In those tournaments, they recorded four wins, one draw and three defeats in eight matches.
Some 42 Asian nations, split into 11 groups, are taking part in the qualifiers and the champions of each group along with four best runners-up will qualify to join hosts India in the 16-team biennial youth Championship in 2016.
Bangladesh will face another Middle East
nation United Arab Emirates in their next match at the same venue on October 18.
-With New Age input
