BD coach wants good performance
Bangladesh coach Robert Ryles wants for his team to earn valuable experience while keeping his sights on the title as four-nation UEFA Assist U-16 Development Tournament begins in Dhaka today.
Bangladesh will take on Cambodia at 7:00pm while Faroe Islands, the only European representatives, will square off against Maldives at 4:00pm on the opening day, with both matches taking place at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The four teams will play against each other over three match-days to decide the winners of this development tournament, funded by UEFA in collaboration with AFC.
“Sometimes when you win a football match you don’t play well but that doesn’t really float my boat. What floats my boat is when I see Bangladesh players play well. Of course, we set the target to win the tournament but it’s all about performances for me,” the Bangladesh coach said while talking about his target during a pre-tournament press meet at the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday.
Even though Bangladesh is hosting this tournament for the first time, Bangladesh did participate in the under-15 version of this tournament in Thailand last year. The boys in red and green finished third, thanks to 4-0 defeat against Cyprus followed by a goalless draw against Thailand and a 10-0 win against Maldives.
While the Bangladesh coach is wary of all the opponents, he thinks the physical aspect of Faroe Islands players could be a challenge for his team.
“There are similarities between Bangladesh and Faroe Islands football. But they are physically very strong. It will be an interesting physical challenge for us,” Ryles said, who recently guided the side to one victory and two defeats in the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers.
Faroe Islands coach is Aki Johansen, however, is more concerned about the weather here, having made a 14-hour journey from Torshavn on Sunday.
“We have come from six degrees and it’s 31 degrees here. So the weather is a challenge for us. It’s a new experience for us, a different experience,” said Johansen, whose charges ply mostly in Faroe Islands, except for three who play for youth teams of Danish clubs.
The two other teams, Maldives and Cambodia, are coming into this tournament looking to build for the future.
Both teams had less than average build-up to this tournament as Maldives lost most of the matches in three tournaments this year while Cambodia lost all their matches of the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers by big margin.
Maldives coach Mohamed Nizam is, however, looking forward to the future. “I have been given a four-year project two months ago to take this team to under-19 level, and I’m already noticing improvements,” Nizam said.
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