Smarting from their humiliating 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Jordan, the under-19 girls of Bangladesh are hoping to put up a better show against favourites Iran when they meet in the second match of the AFC Under-19 Women’s qualifiers under the floodlights of Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today.
Iran who in their first match defeated India 4-2 have shown their superior skill and fitness, should be handful for the hosts. Bangladesh coach Mahmud Alam Babu knows the task against the Iranians would be a huge one, and therefore set a modest target for his charges.
“Our target will be to keep the margin of defeat to as low as possible. The mistakes that we made in the last match should not be repeated. The girls were a little too excited in the first match, which I think they will be able to overcome in this match,” said Babu as she watched his charges practice the Sultana Kamal Women’s Sports Complex in Dhanmondi yesterday.
But on the evidence of the first day’s performances it will have to be strategically a very accurate game from the hosts to do anything like containing their middle-eastern counterparts. Babu thinks they might do a good job against the Iranians if the girls can play according to the plan which is to play a compact game and give less space to the opposition.
“The Iranians are physically strong, and have good shooting skill. We will try to restrict them from getting too much space to shoot. We will try to play a holding game to contain them rather than going on the offensive right away,” observed Babu.
In the earlier match of the day, highflying Jordan will be looking to continue winning streak when they take on India at the same venue.
