Dhaka, Feb 21 (bdnews24.com) – Bangladesh were drawn in Group E in the qualifiers of the 2010 AFC Under-19 Championship with 11-time champions South Korea, billed as the favourites to win the group.
The national Under-16 footballers were drawn in the tough Group E in the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship's qualifying round with Japan and Indonesia, who played the final round of the last edition.
Both qualification draws for youth championships were held Friday at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Apart from Korea, Bangladesh U-19 booters have to deal with hosts Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Macau. The champions and runners-up from each of the seven groups will advance to the tournament proper.
Bangladesh opted to pull out of the last edition of U-19 championship qualifiers.
Besides, one best third-placed team from the West zone and one from the East zone will qualify for the finals. Of the seven groups, four are in the West zone and three in the East. As many as 42 teams were slotted into seven groups, each having six teams.
Defending champions United Arab Emirates will attempt to qualify for the finals from tricky Group B, which also has Syria, Qatar, Bahrain, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
In the U-16 championship, Bangladesh also have Mongolia, Chinese Taipei and Philippines.
The champions and runners-up from each of the first seven groups as well as the best third-placed side will move to the finals.
Only champions from Group H consisted of Australia, Laos and Malaysia will join the 16-team finals.
The qualification campaign is scheduled to run from October 3 through to 18, but the group venues are yet to be confirmed.
In the 2007 qualifiers, Bangladesh lost four of their five matches. They started the campaign in style with a 9-1 win over Palestine, but lost to UAE (9-1), Turkmenistan (3-1), Tajikistan (3-1) and Uzbekistan (3-2).
U-19 groupings
Group A - Tajikistan, Jordan, Yemen, Nepal, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan
Group B - UAE, Syria, Qatar, Bahrain, Bhutan, Sri Lanka
Group C - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, India, Afghanistan
Group D - Uzbekistan, Iran, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Pakistan
Group E - Korea Republic, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Macau, Bangladesh
Group F - Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong
Group G - China, DPR Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Guam, The Philippines
U-16 qualifying stage draw:
Group A: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
Group B: Iran, Bahrain, Lebanon, Nepal, Tajikistan, Maldives.
Group C: Syria, Yemen, Qatar, Palestine, Iraq, Bhutan.
Group D: UAE, India, Turkmenistan, Oman, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan.
Group E: Japan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, Philippines.
Group F: China, Singapore, Guam, Hong Kong, Macau, Timor Leste.
Group G: Korea Republic, Thailand, Vietnam, DPR Korea, Cambodia, Myanmar.
Group H: Australia, Malaysia, Laos.
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