Bangladesh will look to maintain their winning momentum in the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers when the women in red and green take on unfamiliar opponents Timor-Leste in their second match at the Laos National Stadium today. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:00 pm Bangladesh time.
Although the charges of English coach Peter Butler faced some challenges in the first half of their opening match against hosts Laos, they went on to dominate the second half and secure a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Buoyed by that positive start, Bangladesh will be aiming to collect all three points against Timor-Leste before facing former champions and group favourites South Korea on Sunday.
Like Laos, Timor-Leste are an unfamiliar opponent for Bangladesh. However, they are not expected to present as stern a challenge, having suffered a heavy 9-0 defeat to South Korea in their opening match. That result also allowed the Bangladesh technical staff to analyse Timor-Leste’s performance.
Still, Afeida and her teammates will need to improve their overall game, particularly in terms of passing and match control, if they are to secure a stronger result against Timor-Leste. A convincing win could significantly boost Bangladesh’s hopes of qualifying for the finals as one of the three best runners-up.
The team did not hold an outdoor practice session ahead of today’s match. However, according to a statement from the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), the players completed stretching and gym workouts before participating in a recovery session in the swimming pool.