Teamwork the common thread

Hosts Bangladesh, exceeding all expectations in the AFC U-16 Women's Championship Qualifiers, stunned favourites Iran and Chinese Taipei to emerge champions and earn huge admiration not only from the domestic fraternity but also from coaches of the other participating nations.

Bangladesh had started the Group C Qualifiers as the third favourites behind Iran and Chinese Taipei, who played the last edition of AFC U-16 Women's final round in 2015 but the home side comprising a bunch of talented booters were tagged as one of the favourites after their 3-0 triumph over Iran in their first match and they finally ended their campaign with an all-win record after thrashing United Arab Emirates yesterday.

Their exploits drew high praise from all quarters, but the most ringing endorsements were from the coaches of their opponents. The common thread in their praise was the Bangladeshis' teamwork, which was strongly backed by the individual brilliance of the likes of skipper Krishna Rani Sarkar. 

 “Bangladesh played as a team throughout the qualifiers as they have a good attacking line-up and have a striker like [captain] Krishna Rani Sarkar, who has good speed to penetrate the opposition backline,” Chinese Taipei coach Chang Li-Chuan said through the team's translator.

Li-Chuan was not happy with the match officials in the Bangladesh-Chinese Taipei match but he believes a good future awaits the Bangladesh U-16 women's team.

“Bangladesh have a good future and they must be prepared well for the final round. I think there is nothing to be ashamed of if Bangladesh can't do well in the final round as they have already achieved something big,” said United Arab Emirates coach Azzam Ghotok, who divided the group's participants in two tiers with Bangladesh, Iran and Chinese Taipei in the top tier.

Iranian coach Shadi Mahini, who has been following the Bangladesh U-14 team in the last two editions of the AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championship, said that they expected Bangladesh to perform well but never dreamt that they would come up so strongly.

“Bangladesh are a technically sound side with a good understanding among the players and I think they have a good future,” said Singapore coach Chen Caiying. “The girls of Bangladesh were hungry for the win and everyone always fought for the ball as they had a physical advantage. I think they fought as a team.”

Both the Singapore coach and Kyrgyzstan coach -- Pokachalova Svetlava -- said the qualifiers were a good experience for their girls, who have learnt a lot from the tournament.

“You may say that Iran and Chinese Taipei were the favourites but I think Bangladesh were a strong side, who started as top favourites and they proved it in the tournament. We wish them good luck for the future,” said Kyrgyzstan coach Pokachalova Svetlava through the team's translator.

“I am impressed with their midfielders and attackers who are really good players. Bangladesh team were the best balanced side of the tournament,” said Svetlava.