‘Our group looks very tough’

Bangladesh was placed with strong opponents in Group D of the AFC U-23 Championship as the draw of the 42-team tournament took place yesterday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The draw divided the participants into two Regions -- West and East -- featuring 11 groups for the qualifying stage.

Bangladesh will play against Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and hosts Kuwait though the results of Uzbekistan, who already confirmed their place in the final round as hosts, will not be counted in group stage. As many as 11 champions from 11 groups and four best runners-up will qualify for the 16-team final round next year. The matches of group stages are scheduled to take place from October 23 to 31.

"Our group looks very tough," Bangladesh national head coach Jamie Day told The Daily Star from England while enjoying his vacation since last month, following the completion of the senior national team's World Cup Qualifiers engagement in Qatar.

Jamie reckons he would consider himself happy if his charges can repeat the performance of 2019, during the last edition of the tournament, where Bangladesh played comparatively well against Bahrain and Palestine yet suffered a 1-0 defeat to both. However, beating Sri Lanka 2-0 ensured that they finished third in four-team group.

"If we can perform like we did against Bahrain and Palestine, I will be pleased. We don't have an easier match this time but it will be a good experience for the younger players and the more senior ones need to help them and perform as well," said Jamie.

Before playing in Kuwait, Jamie wants to avail the FIFA window for the international friendlies to prepare better. "We have an international window in early October so we either use that for Under-23 games or we play nationally, as usual, and then go into the tournament."