SAFF U-17 Soccer Championship: Bangladesh vs Maldives key draw today

The high-riding Bangladesh team will take on the Maldives whilst Nepal will lock horns with Bhutan on the second day of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) under-17 Soccer Championship at the Race Course Stadium in Colombo today.

At 3.30 p.m., the Bengal Tigers, after their rampage with a 5-1 win over the hosts Sri Lanka on Monday, will face a herculean task against the Maldives.

With just one day’s rest, after competing under tough ground conditions, Bangladesh coach Thomas Smalley was much concerned over their players’ fitness, especially the recovery time. Nevertheless, he was quite optimistic about his boys and said they will go all out to win this game and retain the momentum.

As per the Maldives team sources, they are well geared, where they were able to pick this squad after a tournament conducted among the eight clubs there. They are fresh and will not like to play second fiddle to their rivals and would like to obtain a positive result.

In the second game at 8 p.m., Bhutan will face an acid test when they meet Nepal after their 3-0 defeat at the hands of India in the curtain raiser. Once, they too will be concerned over their fitness after playing a game on Monday. As per the review, Nepal has a slight edge over their rivals while coming into this game fresh and fitter.