2 days Ago
Taking inspiration from Bangladesh U-20 team's recent success, Bangladesh U-17 football team are keeping sights on the title of the SAFF U-17 Championship, which begins in Bhutan on September 20. Under the guidance of BFF technical director AKM Saiful Bari Titu, a 30-member contingent will leave for Thimphu today for the eighth edition of the championship, which previously featured U-15 and U-16 formats. Bangladesh became champions twice in U-16 and U-15 formats in 2015 and 2018 and became runners-up in the last edition, which was a U-16 tournament.
The boys in red and green have taken nearly one month's preparation including last two weeks on the artificial turf of BKSP, keeping in consideration that the tournament will be played on an artificial turf. "The boys last time played the final of the SAFF U-16 Championship but lost to India. Twelve players of that squad also part of the current squad.
So, our target is to play the final and become champions," Titu said at the pre-departure press conference at the BFF house on Tuesday. Bangladesh will play their first match against India on September 20 before facing Maldives in the group's last match two days later. The final will take place on September 30.
"We are going to face India in our first match, so we will be able to understand the strength of each other in that match," Titu said. "During the training, we focused on players' physical fitness which is very important to play back-to-back matches within short time as well as playing on high altitude. "The success of the U-20 team is an inspiration as well as pressure for the boys but I asked them to play without taking any pressure and they will have to take the right decision on the ground," said Titu.
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