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Bangladesh avoid tough group

SAFF Championship draw pits hosts against Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan

Sports Reporter
Hosts Bangladesh have avoided tough opponents in the SAFF
Suzuki Cup 2018 as
the 2003 champions were drawn in Group A alongside Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan during the draw ceremony held at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
Group B features defending champions India, Maldives and Sri Lanka as 2013 champions Afghanistan, currently falling under the central zone of the Asian Football Confederation, were not considered for the event for the first time since their debut 15 yearsago.
The seven-nation tournament will be held from September 4 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. The 12th edition of regional football's apex competition will be hosted by Bangladesh for the third time.
One-time champions Bangladesh were eliminated from the group stages in each of the last three editions and even qualifying for the last four is being considered a big hurdle for the men in red and green, who last reached that stage in 2009 when they
hosted the ninth edition.
During that edition, Bangladesh were pitted against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bhutan and the hosts advanced to the semifinals as group champions. This time, with the home advantage and having comparatively easier teams in their group, may make the job for Bangladesh a lot easier than in the recent past.
" I believe it will be easy to reach the semifinals from this group. Nepal are the only strong team even though they haven't have had a domestic league for the past three years. In Pakistan, football is not being played regularly. Considering these things, Bangladesh should qualify for the semifinals," said former national coach Marufiil Haque, under whom Bangladesh beat Bhutan after losing to Afghanistan and Maldives in the last edition of the tournament in India.
"If you look back at the previous edition, there were two strong teams in our group -Maldives and Afghanistan. But this time there is only one strong team (Nepal| and 1 think with the resources that we have, we are good enough to qualify for the semifinals," opined Maruful.
It may be mentioned here, however, that
Bangladesh suffered a defeat to Bhutan in the Asian Cup qualifying playoff and they have failed to beat Pakistan in their last three meetings since a 1-0 win over hosts Pakistan in semifinal of the 2005 edition.
"The group looks good for us and we have a good chance of doing well in the group stage. I think we can qualify for the semifinals but it will depend on how we prepare," promising striker Jafar Iqbal told The Daily Star over phone.
"We were in a good position following the national camp and fitness levels of the players were also good, but fitness is deteriorating now in absence of the camp. I think
the camp should be resumed immediately under the existing coaching staff," said Jafar, who scored one of two goals against Laos in a recent FIFA friendly.
SAFF and BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and sponsors Maruti Suzuki India's international marketing adviser Seiji Hamada picked the names of the countries and group numbers during the draw.
Hosts Bangladesh and defending champions India were kept in two separate groups while the other teams were drawn from the pots, with their standings prepared considering performances over the past two editions.