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U-15 Girls seeking maximum points

Defending champions take on Nepal tonight

Sports Reporter
fa Fresh from an emphatic 14-0
^SAFF win over lightweights
S*'womens Pakistan, Bangladesh will
l^sois attempt to secure a semifinal
spot with maximum points in the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship when the defending champions take on Nepal in their last group match at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu tonight.
Bangladesh's decimation of their Pakistani counterparts may have surprised many, but the fact is that the girls in red and green have established their supremacy in this region and become a nearly invincible team at this stage since late 2015 - when they beat hosts Nepal 1-0 to clinch the now-deftinct AFC U-14 Girls' Regional (South and Central) Championship.
The following year they retained the trophy by defeating India in the final before triumphing in the newly-introduced SAFF U-15 Women's Championship at home last year.
Although the Nepal men's national team are now better than their Bangladeshi counterparts, the girls in red and green have made light work of their Nepalese counterparts at this stage with 9-0 and 6-0 wins over the Nepal U-15s in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Golam Rabbani Choton's charges are now gearing up for another convincing victory that will help them collect the maximum of six points from their two games and move into the semifinals on a high.
"Both teams have already confirmed their semifinal spots after Nepal beat Pakistan |4-0|, but our target is to emerge as group champions with the full six points,” said head coach Choton over the phone from Thimphu yesterday. “We don't only
want to secure the three points, but we also want to perform better than we did against Pakistan.”
Choton's charges had three days to prepare for tonight's match and aside from training they also watched Saturday's match between Nepal and Pakistan to get an idea about their opponents.
"Nepal never beat Bangladesh at this stage although our senior side lost to Nepal's senior side during the 2015 SAFF Women's Championship. However, Nepal have improved technically since their 0-6 defeat to Bangladesh last December. They also have a good collection of players with tall physique but we are looking forward to winning the match by establishing our authority as we did against Pakistan," said Choton.
Striker Sara Ban Tahura and defender Anai Mogini were also confident of a win.
"In the last SAFF U-15 Championship, I hit a hattrick against Nepal and I want to get goals against Nepal again because 1 was on target with a brace against Pakistan," saidTahura.
"We watched them against Pakistan and analysed their strengths and weaknesses. Now we have to play according to our game plan and give our full effort because we want to be group champions,” added Ani after a practice session at the Changjui Turf Bhutan Football Academy inThimphu.
However, coach Choton added that the girls needed to play with more pace than they showed against Pakistan.
"They played better and did everything they wanted to do. A lot of players got goals and 1 am happy but I think the girls need to increase their pace against Nepal," said Choton, who rejected the notion that his girls had failed to use the flanks against Pakistan.