Bangladesh will be looking to secure their second successive title of the SAFF Under-19 Championship when they face hosts India in the final of the six-nation tournament at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Arunachal Pradesh today.
The final is scheduled to begin at 7:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
Bangladesh reached the final after a 2-1 win over last edition鈥檚 finalists, Nepal, in the first semi-final on Friday before India beat Maldives 3-0 in the other semi-final.
Golam Rabbani Choton鈥檚 charges have scored seven goals and conceded three in this tournament, while India has scored 15 and conceded none.
Bangladesh advanced to the semi-finals as Group A champions, drawing 2-2 against the Maldives before defeating Bhutan 3-0 in the group stage, while Group B champions India destroyed Sri Lanka 8-0 and defeated Nepal 4-0 in the other game.
In the previous edition of this competition, which was held in Under-20 format, Bangladesh defeated India 4-3 (1-1) on penalties in the semi-finals.
聽鈥極ur boys have played well in all the matches so far; they鈥檝e learnt a lot and now are quite confident of their abilities and ready for the final,鈥� said Bangladesh coach Choton at the pre-final press conference on Saturday.
Bangladesh captain Nazmul Huda Faysal, who has scored three goals in three matches, was hopeful of defending the title.
鈥楾here鈥檚 always a certain level of excitement surrounding any final鈥� both teams will look to win the game. The difficulty will be the same for both teams since we are going to face each other in this tournament for the first time. India are good, but we have come here to fulfil our target, which is to bring the trophy home,鈥� said Faysal.
India coach Bibiano Fernandes praised Bangladesh鈥檚 playing character and hoped that his charges would give their best efforts in the final.
鈥楾hey have shown good character in the tournament, especially in the semi-finals, beating Nepal. We respect that, and we will prepare and get ourselves ready and make sure we can give our best efforts in the final,鈥� said Fernandes.
