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U-15 girls begin title defence

Take on unknown Pakistan tonight

Sports Reporter
fa Bangladesh will begin their title
^^SAFF defence in the SAFF U-15 Women's Xi•womih's Football Championship when they
l^auMnoNSMP on pakjstan jn one of the opening day's two matches at the Changlimithang Stadium in Bhutan tonight
The girls in red and green are tipped as favourites to retain the regional title, which they clinched last December in Dhaka following back-to-back title triumphs of the now-defunct AFC U-14 Girls Regional (South and Central) Football Championship.
Seven months later, Golam Rabbani Choton retains almost the same squad with only five players replacing those who did not play a single game in the previous edition of the championship. The major exclusion from the squad is winger Marzia, who exceeded the age limit.
Although Bangladesh are the pre-toumament favourites, India and Bhutan will attempt to stand in the way of the holders, who look stronger than they did in the previous edition as they have been practicing for the past seven months and also won a title in a four-nation international tournament in Singapore in March.
Indian coach Firmin D'Souza admitted at the official pre-tournament press conference that Bangladesh had improved a lot and turned into a formidable side at this level.
"Most of the countries participating in the SAFF Cup have shown major improvement over the last two years, especially Bangladesh who have qualified for the AFC Championship last year, won the SAFF (U-15) Cup last year and went on to win the four-nation CGI Youth Football tournament this year. They seem to be a very formidable side and we will have to prepare well to face them," said D'Souza, whose charges will play the day's other match against Sri Lanka.
The Bangladesh U-15 girls are certainly the team to beat in the subcontinent and they have been improving gradually as they have been together for nearly two years and shared many experiences at the international level. Players like
Maria Manda, goalkeeper Mahmuda, Anuching Mogini, Akhi Khatun and Monika Chakma -who played against North Korea, Japan and Australia during the final round of the 2017 AFC U-16 Girls' Championship - are the main strengths of the team.
Choton also does not want to experiment during the campaign and hinted that experienced players would get priority in the starting eleven in order to avoid any upsets.
Bangladesh have already proven their worth by beating India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka more than one time at this level but they never played against Pakistan at this stage. However, the Bangladesh national women's team beat their
Pakistani counterparts twice in the SA Games and SAFF Championship.
" It is true, we never played against Pakistan at this stage, so we don't know much about them. They have good physique but [we] don't know about their performance We are taking our opening match seriously and considering Pakistan a strong opponent " said Choton over the phone yesterday.
"However, we are more interested in playing our own game. The girls were more focused in training because the opening match is very important and we have to give hundred per cent on the pitch to win the match. The girls will go there for a victory," concluded the successful coach.