Bangladesh under-15 boys' national football team which is the defending champion of SAFF Under-15 Championship wants to keep the title in the soon rolling sixth edition of the event in India.
Five editions of the event were played till now and the red and greens clinched the title twice, first in 2015 when it was an event for under-16 boys and the second time in 2018.
Bangladesh team is leaving for India today morning (Monday) to play the sixth edition of the age level event.
Before leaving the country, team skipper M Rakibul Islam was talking to the media on Sunday about their expectation regarding the event.
He said "We want to keep the trophy and make the nation proud like our predecessors. We had practiced and prepared for this event for last four months." The booter was happy for the facilities and supports they got during the training.
In April, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) began residential camp with these boys at the Fortis BFF Academy in Dhaka's Beraid. Yet BFF claimed that these boys were picked through talent hunt programme throughout the country, it was revealed later that at least 17 out of 32 of the under-15 booters were actually picked from Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP).
Around ten booters of the squad for SAFF Under-15 Championship are also BKSP students and they have experience of playing the Subroto Cup, a famous inter-school football tournament in India, last year. The remaining booters are fresh and yet to get flavour of international arena.
Bangladesh under-15 boys' head coach Robert Martin Ryles said, "We have taken preparation for the event for last four months at the Fortis BFF Academy. We did two or three sessions a day for last few days."
He said, "There are improvements in the players' movements. Our focus was on developing the booters. Special work was done on the attacking side."
The coach was hopeful that his strikers like Al Mirad, Al Amin Rahman, Piash Ahmmed Nova and Rabby Hossain would perform better.
The coach who spent last few months with the booters knows each of them by names. He said that performances from all the departments will be important for better results.
In the final squad, defenders are Apurbo Mali, Azizul Haque Ananto, Kazirul Islam Hridoy, Jayanto Lal, Rajib Hossain and Jony Sikder, midfielders are Rakibul Islam, Sayed Nayeem Ahmed, Shuvo Sarker, Munna Ahmed, Emon Islam Babu, Arifur Rahman Raju, Sirajul Islam Rana, Sajed Hasan Jummon Nijum, Golam Rabby and Badsha Mia and custodians are Sahin Molla, Mehdi Hasan Srabon and Sabbir Gazi.
