Bangladesh’s coach and captain are determined to rectify their mistakes from the previous defeat against India when the two neighboring sides face each other in the SAFF U-16 Championship final at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu Sunday.
Holders India handed Bangladesh their only defeat in the six-team competition in the opening group match and remained unbeaten to appear favorites on paper to win the final.
Bangladesh’s head coach Shaifur Rahman Moni and skipper Nazmul Huda Faysal both wanted to learn from the defeat and return home with the title.
“We started the campaign with a defeat against India. The commitment built among the boys after the loss was to play the final and return home with the trophy. If everyone plays their best and rectify the mistakes from the India loss, then we can win the title,” said Moni Saturday.
Moni also talked about Bangladesh’s convincing 2-1 win over Pakistan in the semi-finals.
“Definitely Pakistan are a strong side because they beat all two teams in the group stage to reach the semis. We played according to our plan and executed it to reach our goal – the final,” said Moni.
“It’s really tough to play matches with only a day’s gap. The time is very short to make the recovery. Fortunately we have almost no injury problems but Ashik (Ashikur Rahman) couldn’t play the last match due to fever and dehydration. He is doing well now but we have to wait for confirmation.”
Captain Nazmul said on the eve of the final: “The mistakes we committed against India and the defeat made the players more determined to beat them this time and become champions.
“We won two consecutive matches against Nepal (1-0) and Pakistan to reach the final. Everyone was motivated to play for the country and gift a trophy. It is still in our minds.”
India also defeated Nepal by the same margin in the group phase before thrashing Maldives 8-0 in the last four.
The competition began its journey in U-16 format in 2011 and continued it for three editions until 2015 when Bangladesh became champions.
Then it was switched to U-15 format for the following three editions from 2017 to 2019.
It was played in U-17 format last year.
Bangladesh are the two-time winners of the competition with their last championship title coming in 2018, while India have won it on four occasions.