Syria wary of hosts
Even though Uzbekistan are the highest ranked side in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers; Syria are also being considered one of the favourites for qualification, thanks to their excellent performance in recent times.
The Arab state, currently ranked 152nd in FIFA rankings which is their lowest raking ever – played in the quarterfinals of the AFC U-22 Championship last year where Uzbekistan were eliminated from the group stages. This team also won friendly matches against Indonesia under-23s (3-0) and Kuwait under-23s (4-1) in the last two months while Uzbekistan under-23s won against Thailand under-23s (5-2), lost against South Korea under-23s (0-1), Honduras under-20s (2-5) in Thailand's King Cup and drew goalless against Vietnam in a friendly in March.
So the Arab state, which will take on Bangladesh in one of the two matches of the opening day at the Bangabandhu National Team on Friday, are being tipped as a major challenge for the hosts.
Having arrived here yesterday morning, the Syrian youths had their first training session in the afternoon at the Brothers Union ground. Al Fakir, the coach of the Syrian team, in his analysis, pointed out Bangladesh as a challenge for their target of reaching the final stage of the championship.
“Opponents Bangladesh, India and Uzbekistan are not easy sides to win against as they have improved much in the last few years. However we have full confidence in ourselves as we have good players and had good time to be prepared. So we believe we can win each match in the qualifiers,” said Fakir after their training session.
“For us, the most important match is to play against hosts Bangladesh. The players of Bangladesh squad have been together for a few years and played many international matches. They also try to play in good pace. They will play before their own crowd, so they are strong opponents.
“We will put our best in the first match. We will do everything that we can to win the match and this match is the key to qualify for the finals,” emphasised Fakir.
Syria squad features nine players who have been playing in Iraq and Oman and 12 of the 23 players are from their AFC U-22 Squad. Before arriving in Bangladesh, Syria had an intensive training camp in Kuwait for 10 days while most of the players have been preparing for one month.
The coach also informed that the Syrian domestic league has been suspended to allow for these players to take part in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers.
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