Dhaka – Bangladesh Under-19 football team will take on hosts Tajikistan in their first Group B match of the AFC Under-19 Championship Qualifiers at Hisor Central Stadium (HCS), Dushanbe on Tuesday.The match will begin at 6pm Bangladesh time. Bangladesh team had their last practice session at HCS on Monday ahead of their main campaign.For a good fight in this tournament, Bangladesh captain Tutul Hossain Badsha wants to depend on the good combination of his team and their recent experience in the SAAF U-19 tournament.”Our main aim is to use the experience we gained in Bhutan SAFF U-19. The team combination is so far very good which will be very useful for us to make good in the tournament,” he said told a pre-match press conference on Monday.Head Coach Mahbub Hossain Roksy said they are extra cautious and serious ahead of the match. “For the first match, we’ve to be extra cautious and serious. We are going to give our cent percent on the field while playing against hosts Tajikistan.”Strength, Conditioning and Goalkeeping coach John David Whittle expected a good kick off in this tournament as his side completed two training and recovery sessions without any injury concerns and with good spirits in all players. “Of course, we are hoping that we can kick off the tournament with a positive result. I’m quiet confident that we can achieve it. We just need to be at our best.”Leaving home for Tajikistan on Friday, Bangladesh team reached their destination on Saturday after a transit in Dubai.In the remaining qualifying round matches, Bangladesh will face the Maldives on November 2, Uzbekistan on November 6 and Sri Lanka on November 8 at the same venue.The ten group champion teams along with the five best runners-up of the 10 Asian groups will earn the rights to play in the final round of the tournament.Bangladesh U-19 team: Tutul Hossain Badsha, Saikat Mahmud, Monir Alam, Osai Mong Marma, Biplo Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman, Mohammad Atikuzzaman, Md Shadhin, Isa Faysal, Jafar Iqbal, Riyadul Hasan, Rahim Uddin, Rahmat Mia, Pappu Hossain, Zahid Hasan Linkcon, Mahfuz Hasan Pritom, Bishwanath Ghosh, Anik Ghosh, Sohanur Rahman, Abu Shahed, Arifur Rahman, Monir Hossain and Foysal Ahmed Fahim.UNB news agency
