Key Points

In a new tournament format, four teams - Bangladesh and Bhutan being the other two - will play against each other in a double round-robin league, which means each team will play six matches. The team that finishes at the top of the table after the final matchday on August 31 will be crowned champions.

India head coach Joakim Alexandersson, who led the U20s to Asian Cup qualification just nine days ago, is not bothered by the quick turnaround time and is eager to guide the U17s in the Bhutan capital.

"It's no problem for me at all because I enjoy coaching. Of course, after the last game in Myanmar, there were a lot of emotions, but then we had the trip back, I had a day off, and we started again with this bunch. So it's fine," said the Swede.

The U17s first began training in January in Bengaluru. Out of the 23 players in the SAFF squad, 13 were part of the Indian Arrows Women Juniors team that performed admirably in the Indian Women's League 2, finishing runners-up in May and clinching promotion to the top tier. Among the 23, 14 players have prior international experience at the SAFF U16 Championship 2024, where India finished runners-up to Bangladesh on penalties.

"The IWL 2 helped a lot, because they already know how I want to press, defend, build up, and attack. That understanding makes things easier here," said Alexandersson, who coached the Arrows side as well.

The Young Tigresses trained under Nivetha Ramadoss, the assistant coach, during the time Alexandersson was occupied with the U20s. Nivetha was the assistant during the U16 SAFF last year as well, and has spent a lot of time with this bunch.

"The coaching staff had been in constant contact even when I was away with the U20s. Nivetha (Ramadoss) knows these kids very well. She has followed similar exercises to those I introduced since coming to India, so the adaptation has been smooth. We played a lot of practice matches against local clubs and boys teams too," said Alexandersson, who also stressed that the ultimate goal is to qualify for the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup in October and this tournament will be good preparation for the qualifiers.

"This tournament gives the girls valuable game time, which is most important. This is a good chance to try different line-ups and see how they perform in their positions, since we have six matches here. The games, the travel, and the experience of staying together as a team all help the players grow both on and off the pitch.

"Of course, it's both a challenge and an opportunity. We brought 23 very good players here, and I want to see them all play. We will rotate across six matches, which will be a good test for the team," said Alexandersson.

Captain Julan Nongmaithem, who is one of the youngest in the squad at 14 years old, plays as a midfielder and is eager to make her international debut.

"We are confident. We have been training in Bengaluru since January. The mood is very positive, and we believe we can go all the way as champions. We are prepared to give our 100 per cent," said the Manipuri.

India and Bangladesh have twice been champions of this SAFF tournament, which has been held for U15, U16, and U17 players. Incidentally, both times India won the title in 2018 and 2019, it was hosted by Bhutan. On both occasions, it was the U15 edition, and India defeated Bangladesh in the final.

"From what I know, Bangladesh will be a big challenge, Nepal are also strong, and Bhutan perhaps have struggled more, but we will give a good fight. We respect all our opponents. For me, the focus is on making sure we play the kind of football we've been working on," said Alexandersson.

- IANS