Bangladesh U16 girls hopeful of qualification

Bangladesh Under-16 women's football team are hopeful of making a positive mark in the upcoming Asian Football Confederation's U-16 Women's Championship Group C Qualifiers, scheduled to kick off at Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday. A total of six countries – Iran, Chinese Taipei, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and hosts Bangladesh – will partake in the 10-day long qualifiers among which only one team will make it into the final round. Considering Bangladesh's recent performance in the women's age-level international competition, this U-16 side, under the supervision of local coach Golam Rabbani Choton, can certainly hope for positive results against favourites Iran and Chinese Taipei. Bangladesh U-14 women's team emerged as the champions of the AFC Under-14 Girls' Regional (South and Central) Championship in the last two editions. Twelve players from the latest title-winning squad have been retained in the current squad. “We began the trial on June 13 with 43 players. Three days later, the squad was reduced to 32. Then, we started the training camp on June 17. We now have the best 23 players available. It is really tough to finish first but if you look at the last two years, our girls' performance makes me hopeful,” said Choton yesterday. The U-16 team played three practice matches against the senior side, winning all three by 9-1, 6-1 and 6-0 margins. Choton doesn't want to take any opponent lightly but believes their toughest opponents will be Iran and Chinese Taipei. On the other hand, captain Krishna Rani Sarkar said, “We have been practising together for a long time. All the teams are strong but we are no less than them. We will fight for qualification till the end.” Bangladesh will begin their campaign with the match against Iran on Saturday before facing Singapore in their next game.