PALEMBANG (24 July 2022) – The excitement is certainly building up in Group B of the AFF Under-18 Women’s Championship 2022 as the four teams eagerly look forward to kick-starting their campaign tomorrow at the Jakabaring Athletic Field.
It is the first time that the AFF are organising the U18 Women’s meet where the idea is to provide the senior team more options by building a bigger base in the younger age groups.
“We are excited to be here. It is our first opportunity to play competitively since the pandemic. It is a great chance to continue to develop players where we are concentrating on players’ adaptability. We will start our campaign against the Philippines, where we feel that their senior team’s performance (in Manila) will rub off on them here.” – Australia head coach Raeanne Dower
“We had about five weeks to prepare the team. It is quite a challenge for us as most of the players are from the provinces. Our last tournament was back in 2019. We could only play test matches against the boys’ team. We have two players from the senior side in the current squad. We have to build the players’ confidence.” – Philippines head coach Marnelli Dimzon
“The players have been together for about two months. Our issue is that we had not been able to arrange for any friendly matches, so that means we are not sure of our level. But whatever the case may be, we will play as well as we can against some formidable opponents in this group. It will be a competitive tournament.” – Myanmar head coach Thet Thet Win
“Half of the players who are here played at an AFC event in Mongolia. After that, they also played in the Malaysian Women’s League. We had about ten days of preparation together. Based on the rankings, we know that Myanmar are ranked higher than us. But we are here not for exposure, where we will be out to make sure that we win points. – Malaysia head coach Kok Keng Lin
AFF UNDER-18 WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
25 July 2022
FIXTURES
1530hrs: Australia vs Philippines
1930hrs: Myanmar vs Malaysia
#AFF
#AFFU19
Pictures Courtesy #PSSI
