Mandalay: Bangladesh will start their second round of AFC U16 Women’s Championship 2019 qualifiers campaign with tomorrow’s match against Philippines at the Mandalar Thiri Stadium in Mandalay, Myanmar.
Ahead of the beginning of the tournament, a press conference was arranged where coaches of all the participating teams briefed the media about their own team and their targets.
Bangladesh head coach Golam Rabbani Choton stated that Bangladesh will go into the tournament with only winning in mind.
“All the teams are very good competitive in Round 2 as they all have qualified for this stage by either winning or being runners-up in their respective groups in Round 1. However, we’ve also come here to win and to for the finals to be held in Thailand,” said Choton.
“The girls have been subjected to rigorous training over the past year and the team is now in a better condition than before.”
“Tomorrow we play out first match against Philippines. It’ll be a challenging match. Nevertheless, we’ll try to win the match and earn full three points from the match,” the head coach concluded.
Bangladesh U16 skipper Maria Manda said, “We came to Myanmar to qualify for the finals. Philippines is a very good team. But our target will be to win earn the three available points.”
On the other hand, Philippines head coach Maneilla Renitee said, “It’ll be a tough competition. All teams are good. Specially Bangladesh and China have a lot of experience as they’d played in the finals of the previous AFC U16 Women’s Championship.”
“However, we also have good team and every team has a chance to qualify for the finals,” observed Maneilla Renitee.
Bangladesh and Philippines will face off at the Mandalar Thiri Stadium in Mandalay, Myanmar at 2:30pm Bangladesh time on Wednesday, February 27.
Also speaking at the press meet, China head coach Roger Reijner said, “All teams are good. Whoever performs better on the day can get the result and go to the finals.”
Myanmar head coach Sonthein Ko said, “We want to play in the final round. We are ready to fight in this tournament. However, China and Bangladesh are favourites. Chinese players are physically stronger and taller and also have experience. On the other hand, the Bangladesh team is a good and balanced team.”
