U-20s aim to banish two decades of torment

Bangladesh are dreaming of qualifying for the AFC Youth Championship proper after 20 years as they leave for Bahrain today to participate in the AFC U-20 Championship Qualifiers, starting on Saturday.

Bangladesh have been placed in Group B alongside Qatar, hosts Bahrain, Nepal and Bhutan, with nine group champions and the five best runners-up set to join Uzbekistan in the 16-team AFC Youth Championship, to be held in 2023.

Bangladesh have only made it to the event proper six times. They played directly in 1975, 1977, 1978 before qualifying successfully in 1980, 1996 and 2002. In the two decades since, Bangladesh have participated in the qualifying round nine times without making it to the next stage. Cruelly, they were denied passage twice by virtue of goal difference.

But this time around, Bangladesh see a possibility, especially considering the team finished runners-up in the SAFF U-20 Championship a month ago and boasts a strong squad. 15 players ply their trade in the country's top-tier Bangladesh Premier League while five feature in the second-tier Bangladesh Championship League. Three others are from the BFF Academy.

"After achieving our target in the SAFF U-20 Championship by qualifying for the final, we are now aiming to utilise that experience in the AFC U-20 Championship Qualifiers," head coach Rashed Ahmed Pappu said. "We are going to the tournament with a target of qualifying for the finals. We have worked on the formations we want to use, especially against Bahrain and Qatar, although there are two more opponents."

In the previous edition in 2019, Bangladesh finished bottom of their group under the supervision of English coach Andrew Peter Turner, losing 0-3 to Bahrain and 2-1 to Bhutan before a 1-1 draw against Jordan.