The former national custodian has prepared the U-19s for the last one year for the 16-team final round of the competition. The team leaves Dhaka tomorrow for Tokyo. Bangladesh have been placed in Group D. Their first match is against Uzbekistan on September 5 followed by meetings with Qatar and Iraq on September 7 and 9 respectively.

Shantoo, who harbours bitter memories of a brief unsuccessful stint with the predominantly Under 23 squad at the Islamabad SAF Games is still disturbed by that experience. But he believes his teenaged charges will make him forget that disappointment.

"I can assure you that they will not stand with hands on waist after only forty minutes like some of their senior brothers. They will fight all the way in the competition because they are superior in stamina and technique than the national players," said Shantoo who guided the side to the finals with wins over two legs against Kyrgyzstan last October.

Assistant coach Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu also echoed Shantoo's optimism .

"I have been involved in coaching for the last fifteen years and from my experience I can tell you that this team has the ability to challenge and play neck-to-neck against any senior combination of Bangladesh."

Shantoo was not unduly concerned about the team's performance in warm-up matches in Thailand where they lost three games out of four.

"We gained experience in Thailand where our focus was on finding the right combination," explained Shantoo.

The coach however, was not happy with the lack of match practice.

"We had only nine practice matches whereas most of the other participating teams have played over 60 games in the same period."

TEAM
Mazharul Islam, Imdadul Haq Monu, Atiqur Rahman Mishu, Abul Kashem, Arafat Ali, Mamunul Islam, Rony Islam, Mamun Hossain, Zahid Hussein, Rajan Miah, Mithun Chowdhury, SM Rajib, Sarwar Hossain, Al Amin Hossain, Nasirul Islam, Rubel Ahmed, Hirak Juardar, Ali Hossain, Abid Hossain and Rahatul Kabir.