Reigning champion Bangladesh U-15 boys’ team have an uphill task to do in order to reach the final of the Saff U-15 Championship 2019 when they take on favorite India in their last group stage match at Kalyani Stadium in the Nadia district of West Bengal, India Thursday.
India are currently leading the five-team points table with maximum nine points from three games, while Bangladesh and Nepal have six points each.
Nepal will face bottom-placed Bhutan in the other match of the last group-round fixtures.
Bangladesh’s hope of reaching the final for the second successive time suffered a blow when they lost to Nepal 4-1 in the last game, making Thursday's tie a must win game.
“This match is very important for us. We are trying to motivate the players to get a positive result,” said head coach Mostafa Anwar Parvez Babu, adding that captain and midfielder Rakibul Islam is ruled out of the game due to injury.
Bangladesh beat India in the tie-breaker in the semi-final of the previous edition.
Bangladesh conceded their first defeat in the Saff U-15 Championship 2019 as they lost to Nepal 4-1 in their third match of the round-robin league at the Kalyani Stadium in Nadia district of West Bengal, India Tuesday afternoon.https://t.co/KmV7jdSEx6
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) August 27, 2019
They also beat the same opponent in the group stage of the 2015 edition after losing the previous edition in 2013.
But India look much stronger this time around.
If Nepal beat Bhutan as expectedly, Bangladesh have no other option but to win against India to stay in the race for the final.
If Bangladesh win then three teams will have nine points, after which goal-difference in the matches played among the teams concerned will come into contention.
India beat Nepal 5-0 in the inaugural game.
