With a hope to retain the title, a 23-member Bangladesh Women’s Football team will leave here for Bhutan today to participate in the 2nd SAFF Under-15 Women’s Championship-2018 to be held in Bhutanese capital Thimphu on August 9-18.
A Drukair flight carrying them will take off from Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport at 9am.
Defending champions Bangladesh, which were put in Group B of the six-nation meet along with Pakistan and Nepal, will play debutant Pakistan on August 9 and Nepal on August 13, both at 7 pm (local time) at the Changlingmithang Stadium.
Last year’s finalist India who were placed in Group A with Sri Lanka and hosts Bhutan, will play Sri Lanka, which are playing the championship for the first time, in one of the two inaugural day matches at 4pm at the same venue.
Both the semifinals will be held on August 16 while the final is billed for August 18.
Earlier, on Sunday, Bangladesh captain Maria Manda said, “We’re the defending champions, so we’re going to Bhutan to retain the title. This time our preparations are also good.”
He also sought blessings from the country’s people for their success in the tournament.
Bangladesh clinched the inaugural SAFF U-15 Women’s title with all-win record beating India twice in the group match and in the final in Dhaka in December last year.
Bangladesh crushed Nepal by 6-0 goals, Bhutan 3-0 and India 3-0 in the group matches and clinched the maiden title beating India again by 1-0 goal in the final.
Bangladesh U-15 team consists of five new players – Ila Moni, Shaheda Akhter Ripa, Rehena Akhter, Rozina Akhter and Noshan Jahan and remaining 18 players have the experiences of playing in the last edition of the meet in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Women’s team: Mahmuda, Swapna, Rupa, Akhi, Annai, Nazma, Nila, Ila Moni, Ripa, Anuching, Rehena, Maria, Monika, Laboni, Tahura, Moni, Shamsunahar, Shohagi, Rituporna, Sajeda, ShamsunaharJr, Rozina and Noshan.
