The Saff U-15 Championship kicks off with a match between defending champions Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Anfa Complex in Satdobato on Friday with more in stake than the title itself.

All six participating teams take the event as dress rehearsal to the much bigger event ahead: the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in September. Nepal are schedule to host the Group ‘D’ AFC U-16 Qualifiers on September 16-24 comprising of Iran, India and Palestine. 

The biennial Saff event, which used to be played as U-16 tournament in the past, has witnessed three champions in the past three editions: Pakistan (2011), India (2013) and Bangladesh (2015). The Group ‘A’ consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka with Nepal, India and Maldives in Group ‘B’. 

Top two teams from each of the pool will qualify for the semi-finals. The 2011 champions Pakistan have skipped the tournament. 

Bangladesh coach Mostafa Anwar Parvez was adamant to defend the title they won in 2015. “We expect every team to give a tough fight despite very little knowledge of our opponents,” said Parvez. “The tournament holds huge significance as these boys are the future of Bangladeshi football.” Sri Lanka’s Japanese coach Suzuki Chikashi said that they want to win the championship and be well prepared for the AFC Qualifiers. Sri Lanka manager DMNSB Dissanayake singled out Bangladesh as the tough team in tournament. 

Bhutan coach Songjun Lee, also from Japan, said his side had a decent training and were better prepared after having some practice matches in Japan recently. 

“We hope to give our best irrespective of the final outcome,” Lee said. Maldives also trained for nearly three and half month and held five days training session in Colombo before arriving to Nepal, according to coach Mohamed Shaazly. Shaazly considers India as the hot favourites and Nepal as second best team. 

India’s coach Ibiano Fernandes said he is taking the tournament as a preparation for the AFC Qualifiers. “We have recently been to Egypt for training cum preparations (for the AFC Qualifiers),” he said. 

Nepal coach Sunil Shrestha said that his side can count on the home advantage but will also be under tremendous pressure to win the title. Shrestha said his team has had good preparations. “We have added new faces since our outing for the football festival in Sri Lanka in March. It has strengthened out squad,” said Shrestha.