Japanese coach Norio Tsukitate has taken over the charge of the Bangladesh women’s football team and will be at the helm till the conclusion of the forthcoming Saff Women’s Championship, scheduled to be held in Pakistan next month.
Norio arrived at the capital last Saturday and has already begun his duties as the coach of the national women’s team. In addition to performing his responsibility as the head coach, Norio will also work as an adviser of the Under-16 women’s football team in the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2015 Qualifiers slated to begin on October 15. He has arrived with co-operation from the Japan International Cooperation Association.
Born in 1960, Norio has worked as the coach of Japanese League outfit Nagoya Grampus and the youth team of Shimizu S-Pulse. He was appointed head coach of the national team of Guam in February 2005. He coached the players continuously for four years from the youth level right through to the national side. His crowning moment came in 2009 when Guam clinched the preliminary competition of the East Asian Football Championship.
The Japanese coach refused to speak with the media saying he will only talk after being officially introduced. It was learned that the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) will unveil him officially in a presser on Saturday with BFF president Kazi Salahuddin presiding over the ceremony.
Meanwhile, the BFF is all set to host the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2015 Qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Iran, Jordan, India, the United Arab Emirates and hosts Bangladesh will be taking part in the nine-day competition. The tournament was originally a six-team affair but Qatar’s withdrawl at the last moment turned it into a five-team event.
The Bangladesh U-16 women’s team have been going through an intense training schedule under local coach Golam Rabbani Choton. Choton will act as the assistant coach of the national side.