BD leaving with no specific targets

The Bangladesh Under-18 football team will leave for Bhutan this morning to take part in the SAFF U-18 Championship, with no specific target to achieve.

Bangladesh will play against all the four other participants in the championship – India, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan – as the tournament format was shifted to a round robin one after the late withdrawal of Sri Lanka.

The boys in red and green will face their biggest test in their opening match against favourites India on September 20, two days after the championship kicks off at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu. It was India who had ended Bangladesh's campaign in the last edition with a win on penalties in the semifinal stage (U-19 Championship in 2015).

And the worrying part is that the team has not had the best of preparations for such an important tournament. They did not get to play any practice matches, and worse still, the whole squad was available to coach Mahbub Hossain Roxy for just three days. Hence the coach was not making any promises during an official press conference at the BFF House yesterday, instead he said the target is to play well in every match.

“Although the whole training schedule took part in four stages, beginning with selection, I only got the players all together for three days due to the ongoing leagues. So I couldn't prepare the side the way I would have wanted to,” Roxy said. “But the good thing is, unlike on previous occasions, all the players this time have been selected from either the BPL or the BCL. So they were involved in a way.”

After playing against India, Bangladesh will take on Maldives on September 20 before facing defending champions Nepal on September 25. They will end their campaign with the game against hosts Bhutan on September 27.

“We are not set any specific target for this tournament. Our aim will be to play well in all four of our matches. And since it will be played in round robin format, losing one match will not end our hopes,” said the former national footballer, who will have national team head coach Andrew Ord as his advisor during the tournament.

Two of the players of the 23-member squad ply their trade in the BCL, the second-tier professional league, while the rest play in the top-tier league, the BPL. However, according to the coach, four out of the 21 BPL players have managed to get regular starts for their outfits while seven others came as substitutes in different matches. The remainder have mostly warmed benches.

The press conference was attended, among others, by BFF's vice-president Kazi Nabil Ahmed, team leader Amirul Islam Babu, BFF's general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag and team's defender Rahmat Mia.

squad

GOALKEEPERS 

Linkon, Pritom, Pappu 

DEFENDERS

Atikuzzaman, Badsha, Monir, Kiron, Riyadul, Rahmat, Bishwanath

MIDFIELDERS

Al-Amin, Jafar, Sohanur, Rahimuddin, Shadhin, Saikat, Faysal, Anik; 

FORWARDS

Nipu, Sabbir, Sufil, Biplo, Osai