Confident India takes on Bangladesh

India takes on Bangladesh in the SAFF under-19 football championship final at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia with the target of extending its record of wins in the age groups having won the under-15, 16, 17 twice each and the under-18, 19 and 20 once each

Hyderabad: India takes on Bangladesh in the SAFF under-19 football championship final at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia (Arunachal Pradesh) on Sunday with the target of extending its record of wins in the age groups having won the under-15, 16, 17 twice each and the under-18, 19 and 20 once each.

Head coach Bibiano Fernandes has won three of them and is looking for his fourth on Sunday.

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Bangladesh are familiar opponents for the Blue Colts, the two having met in four SAAF age group finals and India winning all of them.

“Yesterday, we saw so many fans under such heavy rain and nobody moved out of the stands. They were still there supporting us till the end of the game and that was amazing,” Fernandes and captain Singamayum Shami said in the pre-match briefing.

“I would like to call the fans to come back tomorrow as well. We will give our best on the pitch and make sure that we don’t leave anything behind,” said Fernandes.

Midfielder Shami, who was named the player of the match against Maldives, said, the Arunachal people love football so much. “We’re very happy to see so many people coming and supporting us. As players, we feel proud playing in front of them. We’re ready for the final and will give our best tomorrow.”

“We didn’t play Bangladesh in the tournament, but have seen them play and know how good they are. They have shown good character in the tournament, especially in the semi-finals, beating Nepal. We respect that, and we will prepare and get ourselves ready and make sure we give our best efforts in the finals,” said Fernandes.

Bangladesh head coach Golam Robbani Choton said his boys had played good football in all the matches so far, they’ve learnt a lot, and now they were quite confident in their abilities. “We are ready for the final,” he said.

Bangladesh captain Faysal said there would always be a certain level of excitement surrounding any final. “It’s the last match of the tournament, and both teams want to win it. We’ve come here to fulfil our objective, which is to take the trophy back home,” he said.