Bangladesh national football team will start their three-nation cup campaign as they face strong Palestine in a match scheduled to be held at Dolen Omuzakov Stadium in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Sunday night.
The match will kick off at 8.30pm (Bangladesh Time), reports BSS.
Bangladesh will face an uphill task to tame Palestine in their Sunday’s opening match of the tournament as the team is ranked 102, which is 86 places ahead of Bangladesh in the FIFA rankings. Palestine have not lost against Bangladesh in the last five matches since 2006 winning four matches and one ending in a draw.
Prior to the first match, Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuyan said the players are 100 per cent ready for the tournament. The Bangladesh skipper also hinted at applying a new system against Palestine.
“We’ll play in a new system. If it works, we’ll continue the system,” the captain said. Jamal, however, did not elaborate anything about the new system.
We’ll play in a new system. If it works, we’ll continue the system
Terming next month’s SAFF Championship as important for team, Jamal Bhuyan said, “Less than a month is left for the SAFF Championship… we’ll play the tri-nation cup tournament mainly to prepare for the SAFF Championship.”
“The important thing now is to finish the preparation of SAFF in a short time. Time is very important for us. We are all fine and everyone is ready to play in the tournament,” he added.
Commenting about the first match between Kyrgyzstan and Palestine, the Bangladesh captain said, they have seen the match and got an idea about the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams and worked on it in the practice session. He also discussed with the coach in this regard.
“The coach explained everything to us. We are now fully prepared for the tournament,” Jamal concluded.
Head coach Jamie Day said, “We’re looking forward for Sunday’s match against Palestine and the boys have been trying very well in the last three or four days. We know Palestine is a better side, powerful and strong team, so it’ll be a difficult game. It’ll be tough but at the same time it’ll be a good test for the players.”
Replying to a question Jamie said they would apply different tactics in the three matches of the tournament, which is part of preparation for the SAFF Championship. The three games are going to be a good experience and very tough for the players.
On the other hand, after losing the first match against host Kyrgyzstan, Palestine must be looking forward to stage a fight back against Bangladesh.
Prior to Bangladesh’s first match, Jamal Bhuyan and Co. completed their hour long training session from 10:00am to 11:00am at the match venue on Saturday.