Following their Under-20 team鈥檚 triumph at home in July, Bangladesh will be looking to retain another age-level regional title when they take part in the SAFF Under-17 Women鈥檚 Championship to be held at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, from August 20 to 31.
Women鈥檚 national team assistant coach Mahbubur Rahaman Litu has been named as head coach of the U-17 side, while forward Arpita Biswas will lead the team in the four-nation double-leg format competition.
The team is scheduled to leave for Bhutan today, and prior to leaving the country, Litu announced a 23-member squad during a press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation on Thursday.
Holders and two-time champions Bangladesh will play hosts Bhutan on August 20 before facing two-time champions India on August 22.
They then will play 2022 champions Nepal on August 24 and 27 before facing Bhutan and India in the other matches on August 29 and 31, respectively.
鈥榃e have formed a good team with some experienced and some new players and hope they will do as well as their seniors did. We will play attacking football. National team coach Peter Butler instructed us about the game strategy, and we will follow his instructions,鈥� said Litu.
Arpita, who played for Bangladesh in the SAFF U-16 team in 2024, was hopeful of winning every game in the competition.
鈥極ur preparation is good. And our target is to win every match,鈥� said Arpita.
However, the Bangladesh senior women鈥檚 team, under Butler, retained the SAFF U-20 Women鈥檚 Championship title, winning all six games against Nepal (4-0 and 3-2), Bhutan (4-1 and 3-0) and Sri Lanka (5-0 and 9-1) in Dhaka last month.