Home ›› 08 Nov 2021 ›› Sport
Bangladesh national football team will take on Seychelles in the opening game of the four-nations Mahinda Rajapaksha tournament in Sri Lanka today. The match will start at 5 PM Bangladesh time.
This will be Bangladesh’s first match after their draw against Nepal in the SAFF Championship, a result that denied them a place in the final.
Seychelles are currently ranked 199 in the FIFA rankings, 12 steps behind Bangladesh. Bangladesh have never faced Seychelles previously, making the match in Sri Lanka a first.
Bangladesh have gone into the tournament with a new coach Mario Lemos after Bangladesh Football Federation failed to hold on to Oscar Bruzon for more than the SAFF Championship.
Lemos had been working in Bangladesh as the head coach of Dhaka Abahani, and previously worked as the trainer of the national team for a brief period.
Bangladesh will be without the services of Tariq Kazi, Bishwanath Ghosh, Biplo Ahmed, Matin Mia and Sohel Rana, who were a crucial part of the Bangladesh set-up in the SAFF Championship, in the tournament for various reasons. Bangladesh will also be without first-choice goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico as he was suspended in their final match of the SAFF Championship.
Bangladesh arrived in Sri Lanka on November 5 ahead of the tournament.
Before their match against Seychelles, Bangladesh head coach Lemos insisted on getting off to a good start.
“All the players are fit for the match. We are facing an opposition from a different region. We are looking forward to the match. It’s important to start the tournament with a good result. We are looking forward to playing tomorrow and playing good football,” Lemos said in the pre-match press conference on Sunday.
Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuyan said that they would be thinking about one match at a time.
“We have to take one match at a time, and the first match is tomorrow (today). So, all our focus is on tomorrow. If we can win tomorrow, it will be a good step ahead of the next game,” the midfielder said.
Bangladesh have a better recent form than Seychelles. The African side have conceded 15 goals in their last two games and have only one draw in their last five games, alongside four defeats.
Bangladesh come off a heartbreaking SAFF Championship where they performed quite well, securing one win and two draws in their four matches.
After their match against Seychelles, Bangladesh will take on Maldives on November 11. It was Maldives against whom the red and greens had suffered their only defeat in the SAFF Championship.
Bangladesh will then face Sri Lanka in the final match of the group stage on November 14.
