SAFF Under-17 Soccer Championship kicks off today with SL-B’desh contest

The six captains pose with South Asia Football Federation Under-17 Champions Trophy 

Sri Lankan team will go all out against Bangladesh while team Bhutan will dribble it out against India in the curtain raiser fixtures of the inaugural South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) under-17 Soccer Championship commencing today from 4 p.m. onwards at the Race Course Stadium, Colombo.

After a lapse of several months due to various factors, Sri Lanka is ready to host this international event with the participation of six countries from this region. 

At 7 p.m. hosts Sri Lanka led by Thamodya Sarathkumara from Sri Sumangala College, Kandy is pretty determined to go all out either to create an upset with a win or to force a draw against the star studded Bangali Tigers. 

Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Aruna Sampath is quite confident of his team who are to fire in all cylinders to obtain the maximum point by notching up a win or to hold their rivals to a draw. “We have a well-balanced side this time with immense talent in it. After several trials island wide, we pruned down this squad to 25 players. Unlike the past, we have a mixed set of players picked from these trials.”

 “Our aim is to go on an offensive play in the first quarter of the game. From there, depending on the situation, we will adopt a strategy to compete the rest of the game,” said Aruna Sampath. “I am confident this present set of players are much better than the 2019 team which I coached. They are fit and much geared up for the task,” he added.

On the other hand, the Bangladesh team is tipped to be one of the favourites of this tournament. According to their British coach Paul Thomas Smalley their squad possesses ten players who don the under-20 team in a previous tournament which he assumes as a biggest advantage for his side. This squad had been under his purview for quite some time and had shaped up well for this big occasion. “We are delighted to be here and very happy with the arrangements so far. As the Technical Director of Bangladesh Football Federation, I am overlooking this team too. The team is well shaped up for this tournament with the inclusion of the ten senior players from the under-20 team. Moreover, we are very confident of gaining positive results.”

“We are here to win all the games and the tournament too. I hope our boys will deliver the goods for their country. Playing the hosts in the curtain raiser is a tough task but they are still very optimistic of notching a win today,” said Smalley.

In the other fixture, India will take on Bhutan. As per their respective coaches both sides are well balanced and will surge ahead to win their curtain raiser and to remain undefeated in the tournament. By and large an interesting game of football is expected.

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe will grace the occasion as Chief Guest while former Sports Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dayasiri Jayasekere, Harin Fernando and Namal Rajapaksa will grace the occasion as guest of honour.