AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers: Bangladesh face host Qatar Sunday

Bangladesh boys will take on host Qatar in their last Group E match in the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers at Grand Hamad Stadium in Doha Sunday. After the UAE withdrew their name from the tournament, the Bangladesh boys lost to favourite Yemen 2-0 in their first match on Friday. Yemen are the only team from the group who have confirmed their berth in the final round, which will be held in Malaysia next year. Along with the host, the top finisher from each group will qualify for the final round along with the top five runners-up sides from 10 groups. Yemen thrashed Qatar 6-1 in their opening game. The previous results from the group suggest that Bangladesh have the chance of finishing second even if they manage a draw against the home side. “Unfortunately we lost the match against Yemen (Friday), despite our boys’ neck to neck fight against a better ranked side. Ahead of our last group match against host Qatar, our boys are ready to give full effort for winning the match and qualify for the next round,” said Bangladesh head coach Mostafa Anwar Parvez. Captain Yaseen Arafat said, “We put up a good display and yet, we lost to Yemen due to some silly mistakes. [Sunday] we have another match against Qatar. We are all ready and will try to win the match because we have the confidence to give 100%.”