Dhaka, January 3: The Bangladesh camp morale is high in Siliguri. Having stormed into the finals thrashing the Maldives 6-0 and holding reigning champions India, the women booters have shown they can hold their own.

Bangladesh went past the semis at the SAFF women’s football championship for the first time on January 2. Earlier they held India to a goalless draw to come out as group champions.

The young side, with 15 of the 20 players coming from the national U-16 squad, will once again take on India, this time in the final game.

Coach Mahbubur Rahman Litu acknowledged India’s strength without any equivocations. “Some of their players have been playing for longer than our players have lived.”

He pointed out that while India’s star striker Bala Devi and Kamala Devi have played around 16 or 17 years, most of the Bangladesh side is not even 16 yet. “So you can imagine their bag of experience and how much better they can be.”

Litu promised feisty football on the eve of the SAFF final saying some of the Indian players would certainly be marked but did not want to say too much about the team strategy lest they fall into the wrong hands. “We will go out there to play our game.”

Sabina Khatun, who had missed out two opportunities of scoring against India, is keen to find the net this time. “I hope to score a goal against them this time,” she said.

But it has been the spirited performance of the younger members that has really caught the attention of everyone. Litu said there was a lot of criticism about selecting so many younger players before coming to Siliguri. “Even the head coach, Golam Rabbani, was asked about it. And people were rather apprehensive that the side was too young.”

But the girls have vindicated their coaches. “Now there is no room for any doubt. They way these young girls are playing, they much to look ahead for.”

Litu looked at his goalkeeper Sabina Akhter for another clean sheet. “She gave us a couple of saves against Maldives too. If she can give us a life or two we will make it happen at the other end.”

For defence, Litu said Masura had been pulling more than her weight so far along with Nargis, who had even scored once against the Maldives. And up ahead the coach looked towards the U-16 duo of Krishna and Shopna and of course the veteran goal machine Sabina Khatun to find the net.

Sirat Jahan Shopna, who idolises the skipper Sabina, outdid her at the last match with a hat trick despite a sore ankle. “She is a fighter. She played superbly despite the pain. Fortunately she is fully fit for the finals.”