Bangladesh women football team left for Singapore last afternoon to take part in tri-nation Women’s Development Football Cup Singapore 2017.
Bangladesh will play two matches there against Malaysia on February 16 and host Singapore on February 17. The tournament, which is collaboration between the two countries, will be hosted by the Singapore Football Association, in an attempt to lift up women’s football.
Prior to the team departure Bangladesh women team captain Sabina Khatun told the reporters that this will be another chance for the younger players to test their skills in the international arena.
BFF’s head goalkeeping coach Ryan Sandford said the tournament presents a fantastic opportunity for the girls as they will be able to play against the higher ranking teams in the tour and it will be good challenge for them.
Sandford said the team’s preparation since its return from Japan had been fantastic. Since four players are taking their SSC exams, he said there would be some new faces. The senior national side, mostly powered by the national U16 girls’ team, finished the recent SAFF Women’s Championship as runners-up, thanks to the U16 girls who managed to secure a place in the AFC finals and performed admirably in another friendly tour in Japan’s Osaka.
The Bangladesh eve team is going to take part in the tournament as preparation as the U-16 squad set to play in the AFC finals in September in Thailand. Ahead of the two matches in Singapore, the girls have given rigorous training in residency camps and organised international friendly matches to prepare them even better.
Singapore is ranked 98th and Malaysia 82nd in FIFA.
