U-16s leave for Japan today

Bangladesh U-16 women's football team will leave for Japan today to take part in the J-Green Sakai Lady's Festival as part of their preparation for September's AFC U-16 Women's Championship in Thailand.

A total of 20 teams including one team each from Bangladesh and Thailand, split into four groups, will be playing 40-minute length group matches before vying against the opponents of the three other groups on the basis of group standing.

Besides, the girls in red and green will also play a practice match on Wednesday before entering the group-stage matches on the following day. They will have to play three successive matches on Thursday before playing four more matches on Friday.

“For the first time, we are going to play against strong teams like Japan. I believe our girls will earn a vast knowledge from the festival and we can also see the standard of our team at the moment,” said head coach Golam Rabbani Choton at a press conference at the BFF House yesterday.

Asked what if the girls suffer injuries due to the hectic schedule as the players have been going through hard training and whether this is the proper platform to judge the team, the coach said, “As it is a match of 40 minutes, I think the girls will face no injuries as they are used to playing 90-minute games. I think it will be a new experience for them and a stage to learn new things.”

Choton also believes the fitness level of the players has improved compared to what it was during the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in September last year and that they will play better football this time.

Captain Krishna Rani Sarker is also optimistic about earning some valuable experience from the festival.

“The other teams are much stronger than us and we have many things to learn from them. We will give hundred percent to play well and try to rectify our mistakes match by match.”