Mandalay: Bangladesh U16 women’s national team skipper Maria Manda has observed the rigorous training regime that the girls have been undertaking over the past year is paying dividends on the field.
On Wednesday, the objective for the first game of Round 2 of the 2019 AFC U16 Women’s Championship qualifiers versus Philippines was achieved.
The Bengal girls toyed with the Filipino girls to register an emphatic 10-0 victory.
BFF technical and strategic director Paul Thomas Smalley observed that the team coped very well with the extreme heat and humidity, which affected a number of players.
The playing style of the team, relentless pressure and physical fitness shone through in all facets of the game. The team scored some excellent goals with a number of players getting on the score sheet.
Whilst it was an emphatic victory with many positives, it is important that the preparations for the second game versus the hosts Mynamar start with continued professionalism.
With that in mind, Maria Manda, the U16 captain, emphasised how important the preparation has been for this tournament. “We’ve spent many hours training and preparing for this on the training field and you can see how we are playing as a group. I feel very proud”
Meanwhile, the senior players continued their training for the upcoming SAFF Championship Thursday morning at the Mandalay Football Academy ground whilst the U16 players took part in a recovery session, which included some swimming, stretching and light exercises.
Head coach Golam Rabbani Choton is pleased by the performance and happy that the team’s objective was achieved. “We will now concentrate on our plans for Myanmar.”
