Bangladesh face unknown Timor-Leste

Hoping to reach the finals after 19 years, the Bangladesh are set to begin their AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign when the men in red and green take on the largely unknown Timor-Leste in the Group A opener in China today.

The match will kick off at 12:00pm Bangladesh time at the Tonglianglong Stadium.

This time placed in a tough group alongside hosts China, Bahrain, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste, Bangladesh have previously failed to reach the final round in the last nine editions since their breakthrough qualification in 2006.

However, the SAFF U-17 Championship runners-up team are optimistic this time, boosted by a three-month training camp and participation in two tournaments ahead of the qualifiers.

"We are here to qualify for the finals. China and Bahrain have strong structures, but the rest of the teams, including Bangladesh, are improving," said coach Golam Rabbani Choton at the pre-match press conference.

"Probably we have never played Timor-Leste at age-group level and, despite many attempts, we could not find any video footage of them. So we have very little idea about their playing style. Still, we will take the field looking for a win by sticking to our game plan," Choton added.

Echoing his coach's sentiment, captain Nazmul Huda Faisal said they want to progress through the tournament step by step, focusing on each match as it comes.