Dhaka- Title-aspirants Bangladesh are confident over winning the first Bangamata U-19 Women’s International Gold Cup Football title on Friday.
The hosts are ready for final Laos test at 6 pm on Monday at Bangabandhu National Stadium where the President Abdul Hamid is expected to be the chief guest of the final match.
Head Coach of Bangladesh Golam Rabbani Choton said his team is confident enough about winning the game.
“We will be the champions. Laos are the best team of this tournament, but they are not invincible,” he said in a pre-match presser at BFF on Thursday.
Bangladesh emerged as Group B champions beating the UAE by 2-0 goals in the opening match on April 22 and managed a 2-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan in the 2nd match on April 26.
The hosts reached the final eliminating Mongolia by 3-0 goals in the second semifinal at the same venue on April 30, without their Sirat Jahan Shopna and Krishna Rani Sarker.
While asking about Shopna and Krishna, Choton replied, “Krishna is likely to play, but Sirat Jahan Shopna will miss the game.”
Asked about preparations, Choton said, “We have some special plan for Laos. We worked on our weakness.”
On the other hand, head coach of Laos Vongmisay Soubouakham said, his team would put up a tough competition against the home team.
“They [Bangladesh] are one of the strongest opponents of this tournament. It is difficult to win the final match against them. But we can beat them,” he said.
Bangladesh scored total of 7 goals in their three matches while Laos scored 18.
The touring side started their campaign with a 5-0 win over Mongolia and clinched the Group A title thrashing all-losers Tajikistan by 6-0 goals in the last group meet on April 27.
Laos humiliated Kyrgyzstan 7-1 goals in a one-sided first semifinal at the same venue on April 29.
Earlier, the six-nation meet kicked-off on April 22, named after Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and K-Sports are jointly organising Bangamata U-19 Women’s International Gold Cup 2019 to celebrate Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib’s life and ideals. It is the first international football tournament for women arranged by BFF after 2004.
Six U-19 women’s teams, including Mongolia, Tajikistan, Laos, UAE, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh competed in the tournament.
The champions will be awarded by $25,000 while the runners up will get $15,000.
