U-15 boys eye final
Bangladesh will hope to cross the last four hurdle of the SAFF U-15 Championship for the second time when they take on defending champions India in the first semifinal at the ANFA Complex ground in Kathmandu today.
The match gets underway at 10:45am [BST] before the second semifinal between hosts Nepal and Pakistan take place in the afternoon at the same venue.
Bangladesh only once made it to the final of these championships, which was an under -16 tournament in the first two editions, when they hosted the third edition of in 2015. They beat India 2-1 in group stages before beating the same opposition 4-2 in penalty shootout in the final after the regulation time of that game ended 1-1.
The boys in red and green will definitely hope to repeat the feat of 2015 against India rather than the 2013 edition where Bangladesh suffered a 0-2 defeat in group stage before being ousted with a 5-1 drubbing by Nepal in the semifinal.
The charges of Mostafa Anwar Parvez may, however, take inspiration from their first two matches against Maldives and Nepal where they scored a total of 11 goals. The boys in red and green showed great character by beating Nepal despite having a player sent off after the half-hour mark. The team's confidence is high but they are realistic ahead of the match against India, who ensured their semifinal berth with a 4-0 win over Bhutan after losing the tournament opener 2-1 against Pakistan.
“India are a strong side and we have taken preparation accordingly. We beat Maldives and Nepal in group stage which helped increase our confidence. We are hoping to reach the final by beating India,” said Bangladesh captain Mahedi Hasan.
Anwar Parvez, who also guided Bangladesh in the previous edition, was a bit cautious about the progress to the final as his charges suffered a 4-2 defeat against Nepal in the 2017 semifinal.
“India are a strong team. I watched their match against Pakistan and gathered some ideas about them,” Parvez said. “We have prepared our gameplan for the semifinal match and trained the boys today (Wednesday).”
“The boys are ready to face India and we are hopeful that we can qualify for the final by beating India,” said the former national midfielder.