Sabina and Co brace for SAFF defence showdown

Defending champions Bangladesh are all set to fly out to Nepal this morning with a mission to defend the title of the SAFF Women's Championship, knowing that it is going to be a tough challenge for them to return home with the prestigious regional trophy.

Bangladesh will start their campaign by taking on Pakistan in a Group A encounter on October 20 before facing five-time champions India in the group's second and final match on October 23, after the seven-team tournament gets underway on October 17 in Kathmandu.

Head coach Peter Butler yesterday announced a 23-member squad with a mixture of young and experienced players, as key players of the SAFF-winning squad in 2022 -- such as Akhi Khatun, Sirat Jahan Swapna, Marzia, Anai Mogini, Anuching Mogini, Sajeda Khatun, Eity Rani, and Sathi Biswas -- have either left the team or been dropped from the squad.

"To be honest, the SAFF Women's Championship is going to be more competitive than the last edition. I think India will be stronger than last time, and Nepal are also expected to be ready to win the title, which they have never won. We are also defending champions, so our target will be to defend the title," said captain Sabina Khatun at a press conference yesterday.

"If we can become champions, then the countrymen will be happier than us, and we want to give our 120 percent effort to make them happy," said Sabina, adding that they lacked practice matches.

Asked whether they can topple either India or Nepal on the way to confirming a spot in the final, Sabina remarked, "If you see Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, we are similar teams. In this perspective, those who do well tactically and technically on the ground will come out victorious. We beat both India and Nepal in the last edition, but it will be a bit difficult this time around because both teams will come with more preparation."

Coach Butler, however, did not promise to win the tournament but confirmed that they will play attacking and possession-based football, giving their best in the tournament.

"I can't promise you we're going to win the tournament, but what we can do is give our best with sincerity, honesty, and integrity. The most important thing is that it's all about dealing with tournament football, which is very unpredictable," said Butler.

"I think we will stick to our game plan -- plan A and plan B. The girls have trained to adapt to different systems. I'm very confident; I've got a lot of confidence in the girls because they have worked really hard, and we're going to give our best," added the 58-year-old coach who, however, is unbothered about the lack of practice matches ahead of the main event.

"We had no practice matches, which I'm not going to complain about, because it's probably the same for most teams these days. It's not easy to get practice matches; it's very difficult, but we've made the most of it, worked extremely hard, and been intelligent in our approach. Another thing in my eyes is that as long as we give our best and act with integrity, respect, and honesty, I am pretty sure we will give a good account of ourselves."