The Bhutanese girls are hopeful of reaching the knockout stages of the SAFF U-18 women’s championship despite having no exposure to international matches.
This was revealed during the pre-match press conference of the tournament held earlier today.
The first edition of the SAFF U-18 women’s championship will kick off tomorrow with Bhutan facing India at the Changlimithang National Stadium.
SAFF U-18 women’s championship will be the first international tournament for the U-18 dragon girls.
Training for the last couple of months in Gelephu and Thimphu, the Bhutanese head coach Sung Jae Lee believes the girls are all set for the new challenge in their homeland. He said their target is to reach the semi-finals of the Championship.
“Bhutanese girls have started to play footballs only a few years ago and we are getting more confident with time. But we need more good performances first, so this is also one of my goals.”
Likewise, Bangladesh expects to reach the finals of the competition. The Bangladeshi girls have managed to reach every final of the tournament in their last four international competitions.
“We hope we will be able to play the finals and if everything goes according to our plans, we will also win the champions trophy,” Golam Rabbani Choton, the Head Coach of Bangladesh, said.
However, team India believes the tournament will help them build a better team chemistry ahead of the crucial AFC U-19 Championship next month in Thailand.
“We look forward to this tournament in terms of our preparations for the AFC cup and I am sure it will be a great opportunity and a great platform for my players to test themselves,” Alex Ambrose, the Head Coach of India, said.
Despite the limited training period due to the recent football ban imposed by the FIFA, the Pakistani head coach is confident that the girls will give a tough fight.
And for team Nepal and the Maldives, they claimed the championship will help them to gain good international match experiences.
Team Bhutan is placed in group A along with India and the Maldives. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are in group B.
The top two teams from each group will further advance to the knock out stages of the tournament. All the matches of the championship will be played at the Changlimithang National Stadium.
