UNB, Sylhet :The six-nation SAFF U-16 Championship, begins today (Sunday) at Sylhet Stadium with defending champions India taking on Sri Lanka in the opening match at 5 pm.Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inaugurate the six-nation SAFF Under-16 Championship as the chief guest prior to the match start Sunday afternoon.Hosts Bangladesh will start their campaign in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-16 Championship taking on Sri Lanka on August 11 at 5pm at the same venue. Ahead of the Sunday’s match, Indian coach Bibiaono Fernandes at a press conference in Sylhet on Saturday said “Our target is to retain the title playing a good football,”. “Our team is now in good shape, we are playing good football, Sri Lanka is also a good side, but we are ready to give our best to retain the title” he added.Sri Lanka coach Mohammad Roomy said. “Our team took preparation for one month for the meet and our initial target is to reach semifinal””India is a good team, we have tough opponents like India and Bangladesh in the group, but we are hopeful to reach the semifinal” he further said. Sri Lanka captain Mohammad Afran echoed the voice of his coach and said, “our team spirit is good, we have to play our best to make a semifinal berth” he added. Earlier, Bangladesh was put in strong Group A along with India and Sri Lanka while Group B team comprises of Nepal, the Maldives and Afghanistan. In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will play defending champions India on August 13 also at 5pm at the same venue. On completion of the group matches, top two teams of each group will play in the semifinal on August 16 while the final match will be held on August 18.India was the first team to reach Sylhet Thursday afternoon to participate in the regional soccer meet, followed by Nepalese team in the evening.Sri Lanka and Afghanistan U-16 teams reached city on the following day (Friday) to participate in the meet.
