Both the semifinals of the six-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-15 Championship will be held today (Friday) at two separate venues in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
In the semifinals, defending champions Bangladesh will play hosts Nepal at the ANFA Complex while last time runners-up India will play lowly Bhutan at Halchowk Stadium.
Both the matches will kick-off at 3:30 pm Bangladesh time.
The final match of the South Asian Junior soccer will kick-off at 3:30 pm Bangladesh time on Sunday at ANFA Complex in Kathmandu while the 3rd place deciding match between two losing semifinalists will begin at 2:30 pm on the same day at Halchowk Stadium.
After beating Bhutan on Tuesday, the head coach of Bangladesh team Mostafa Anwar Parvez expressed his satisfaction saying, “I am happy that we won the match against Bhutan after executing our plan, but our team needs more improvement before playing semifinal.”
After losing the group match against India on Wednesday, Nepalese coach Sunil Shrestha said, “The semifinal match against Bangladesh would be tough one.”
Commenting against semifinal against Bangladesh, Sunil said, we will improve our performance in the next game against Bangladesh, they are the group winner. It will be tough match, but our defense will be strengthened in the next match with the come back of Roshan Dong”.
Roshan was suspended against the Maldives after receiving two yellow cards.
Bangladesh smartly reached the semifinal of the regional meet as the Group A champions with all-win record beating Bhutan by 3-0 goals and Sri Lanka by 4-0 goals in group affairs while Bhutan managed a semifinal berth as the Group A runners up beating Sri Lanka by 6-0 goals.
India storm into final as the Group B champions with all-win run beating hosts Nepal by 2-1 goals after crushing the Maldives by 9-0 goals while Nepal confirmed a seat for semis as the Group B runners-up outplaying the Maldives by 6-0 goals in group affairs.
The Maldives and Sri Lanka eliminated from the South Asian Junior meet with empty hands after conceding two successive defeats in group encounters.
