Bangladesh fine-tune preparations in Sydney

Following a five-day training camp that included a warm-up match at Valentine Sports Park in Sydney, the Bangladesh women’s football team held their first session at the official venue --Jubilee Stadium -- on Friday ahead of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Asia’s premier women’s competition will kick off with hosts Australia facing the Philippines on March 1, while debutants Bangladesh begin their campaign against defending champions China on March 3.

The team trained for around two hours at Jubilee Stadium, where the players and coaching staff were impressed by the facilities, though they expressed regret at not being able to spend more time at the venue.

“Not only we but the girls also liked the ground a lot because everything is organised here. The girls are enjoying every moment. It would be much better if they had more training time at Jubilee Stadium,” assistant coach Mahmuda Akter said in a video message sent by the Bangladesh Football Federation.

“Today we got two hours for training. Everything like ice and water are ready on the field, we came and carried these and entered into the training,” added the long-serving coach.

Mahmuda, however, refrained from detailing the team’s performance in their lone warm-up match against Western Sydney Wanderers on Wednesday, limiting her comments to brief remarks about the team’s condition.

It was learnt that Butler fielded two different squads during the first 60 minutes before deploying a combined lineup for the remainder of the match against the Australian A-League side, with Bangladesh performing better than expected against Western Sydney Wanderers.

According to a BFF press release, despite steady rain and cool conditions across Sydney, the team maintained high intensity throughout a 90-minute session. Training began with warm-up routines and continued with technical drills and possession-based exercises before concluding with a competitive 20-minute 11-a-side practice match.

After the session, the team checked into the official AFC hotel in Parramatta, six days after arriving in Australia.