Tigresses begin Thailand friendlies without Mile

As the Bangladesh women’s national football team intensifies its pursuit of a hat-trick of South Asian Football Federation Championship titles, attention turns to their key closed-door friendly against Thailand Tier-1 side Kasem Bundit Women’s FC on Monday afternoon.

The fixture marks the first major test of their ongoing conditioning camp in Thailand, although the reigning South Asian champions will be without promising goalkeeper Mile Akter, who is still recovering from a hand injury.

Under head coach Peter James Butler, the squad has already completed three training sessions in Thailand. 

Following a 12-day preparatory camp at the Korean EPZ in Chattogram, the team has now moved into the tactical fine-tuning phase.

Sunday’s session focused on positional play, finishing, and set-pieces, before concluding with an ice-bath recovery session beside the training pitch.

The emphasis has been on improving coordination between defence and midfield ahead of Monday’s match.

Speaking in a video message released by the Bangladesh Football Federation, goalkeeping coach Masud Ahamad Uzzal gave a positive update on the camp.

“The condition is very good. The players’ physical state is excellent, and we have no injury concerns among the outfield players,” Uzzal said. “The girls are training well. In today’s (Sunday) third session, we focused on communication between defenders and midfielders. The head coach worked on shape during transitions, both in and out of possession, and on building understanding. We also did finishing drills. We are playing a local club, Kasem Bundit, on Monday and I am hopeful of a strong performance.”

While the outfield squad is fully fit, the goalkeeping department is being managed carefully.

Mile, who sustained a right-hand injury requiring three stitches during mid-April training shortly after returning from the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup, is travelling with the squad but will not feature in Monday’s game.

Her stitches have been removed and she is progressing well, but the coaching staff are taking a cautious approach.

“Mile had three stitches, which have healed,” Uzzal explained. “I am working on her physical fitness, but I cannot start ball work yet. It will take another two days before we can include that. So she will not play the first match. We are planning to use Swarna (Rani Mandal) and Rupna (Chakma) instead. Mile will be involved from the next match.”

The closed-door friendly is seen as an important step in Butler’s preparations, offering a chance to test combinations and integrate new players into his tactical structure.