No time for celebration
The Bangladesh under-18 women's football team will leave for Bhutan tomorrow to participate in the inaugural SAFF U-18 Women's Championship, which will get underway from September 28.
The team will feature 13 players from the under-15 squad, which qualified for the second round of the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers in Dhaka on Sunday. 10 senior players will join them, making the team a strong contender for the title.
The under-15 girls hardly had time to celebrate their win over Vietnam as they will have to turn their attention to the Bhutan assignment. The girls in red and green are set to open their campaign against Pakistan on September 30 before taking on Nepal on October 2 in the last match of Group B. Group A features India, Maldives and hosts Bhutan.
The under-15 players, along with 16 other senior players who are in long-term camp, were greeted by the Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin at the BFF office yesterday. The BFF boss handed small monetary awards to them and highly praised their performance while expecting good things from them in their next mission.
Two months ago, the Bangladesh under-15 team failed to defend their title in the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship in Bhutan. The defeat in the final against India was a shock result and it left the team downhearted. Now with a fresh triumph at home, the players and coaches of the team believe that they can redeem themselves by winning the title in Bhutan.
“We expected to win that tournament but lost in the final against India. It was a very sad moment for us,” striker Saraban Tohura said on Sunday. “We want to win the next assignment in Bhutan and forget that memory.”
The under-15 team captain Maria Manda said they want to celebrate Sunday's triumph together with a victory in the SAFF U-18 Championship. “We lost the U-15 SAFF in Bhutan. So we want to bring the U-18 SAFF title home and celebrate both victories,” the midfielder said.
Coach Golam Rabbani Choton, who is in charge of all the women's teams, said that long-term training will help them become victorious in Bhutan.
“These girls have been together for three years and have a good understanding among them. Even if they haven't played international matches, they play three to four games each week against the under-16 girls' team. So I am hopeful that the girls will produce good results,” Choton recently said about the team's chances in Bhutan.
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