Dhaka, October 1: Hosts Bangladesh takes on Sri Lanka in the AFC U-19 Championship group A qualifiers at the Bangabanndhu National Stadium at 6:00 pm on Friday.

In the official presser at the BFF House on Thursday Bangladesh coach Saiful Bari Titu expressed his desire to present a new look Bangladesh U-19. “We have been preparing for this tournament for the last three months and we are looking forward to see a formidable Bangladesh U-19 team, we have worked hard to rectify the mistakes we committed in SAFF U-19 at Nepal, we will be playing pressing football and we know that winning against Sri Lanka and Nepal is a must to keep our dream come true, we want secure the runners-up slot and then focus on Uzbekistan who are definitely the top team of the group” said Titu. It would be mentionable that five of the best runners –up teams will get the ticket of the final round billed to be held in Bahrain in 2016.

Sri Lankan coach Sumith Walpola however, warned Bangladesh about having an easy time. “The boys are the future stars of Sri Lanka, they have the thirst to go ahead, they have participated in the AFC School Tournament in Mongolia one month ago where they lost to China 1-0, beat India 4-0, drew with Hong Kong and Singapore 2-2 respectively and went 1-0 down to Thailand in the last match, we want to keep the momentum and we look forward to win the match” said Sumith who played in Dhaka on a number of occasions.

In the first match of the day Uzbekistan locks horn with Bhutan at the same venue at 3:00 pm. Uzbekistan coach Jasor Abduraimov said his team is firmly focused on the group championship.  “We want to prove our ability in the field, we are not taking any team lightly, we want to go match by match and look forward with confidence” said Jasor.

Bhutan coach Chokey Nima wants to grab the opportunities. “We don’t get the chance to play in the big occasions regularly, so U-19 is a great platform for us to show our potential, we are focused on our abilities and want to utilise the opportunities” said Chokey.