Dhaka, February 2: The U16 girls, who form the core of national women’s side, show all the promise of becoming an exciting team given their consistent improvement and string of outstanding performances.

Head coach Golam Rabbai Choton said after their return from the recent tour of Japan that the girls had played really well. “They are improving every day with every tournament they play.”

The head goalkeeping coach, Ryan Sandford, pointed out that while there is still a long way to go before the team travels to Thailand in September when they play the U16 AFC championship, the girls know now what is expected of them. “They learnt about the structured Japanese culture. They learnt about a different style of play and more importantly they learnt what level they need to be at — physically, technically and tactically.”

Sandford said this was a great experience for the girls. “And they really appreciated this opportunity.” The group of players trained and played at a world class facility that would go a long way for their preparation, said Sandford.

As for the girls themselves, they think Japan saw the best of them so far. Krishnarani Sarkar, the skipper, said, “Of all the times we have played, we played our best football in Japan.”

Krishna also indicates there is much room for improvement. “We performed well against stronger, but with continued practice, I think we will get even better.”

It is perhaps this relentless hunger for better performance that makes this team so great. Sirat Jahan Shopna, the highest scorer for Bangladesh, said there was a bit of a hitch in the very beginning. “But after that it was fine. We played our natural game.”

She said there was this one time in Japan when she missed a sure goal which she regrets. “I had gone past the Imagasaki goalie but I missed the shot.”