Home ›› 08 Jun 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh will kick off their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign today as they take on Bahrain at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Malaysia.
Javier Cabrera’s men will have to punch above their weight and commit a ‘giant-killing’ to get a positive result out of the encounter as both teams have a gulf in strength, especially in terms of World Rankings.
Bahrain stand 89th in the rankings, while Bangladesh lurks at 188th.
Despite the massive difference in strength and perhaps quality, Bangladesh will draw inspiration and motivate themselves to come out with a result as they managed to hold 159th ranked Indonesia in a goalless draw as part of preparations just last week.
Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuyan assured that he and his team were prepared for the match and they had done enough research on their opponents.
“We are ready for the game tomorrow (today). We know it’s going to be a big match. We have done video analysis with the coach and the management for the last few days. So, we are well prepared for this match. Of course, we have some lackings, but all teams have them. We have discussed these things with the coach,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
Jamal said their opponents might think of Bangladesh as a push-over, but they were hopeful about proving their doubters wrong.
“I think the other teams think of Bangladesh as an easy target, but the players have something in their mind. Hopefully, we can do some surprises,” he said on Tuesday.
“Overall, I am confident if our game plan goes well, we can get something out of the match,” he added.
It has been evident in recent matches that coach Cabrera has transitioned to a different philosophy than the one he had tried to implement upon his arrival.
He has shifted from a possession-based system to a counter-attacking, quick transitioning from a low block style of play, a system he believes suits the team better.
The Spaniard is set to have a full-fit squad at his disposal and will be looking to kick start the campaign with a bang.
A change in the system is not likely to be on display as Cabrera said they will try to stick to similar tactics that helped them in Indonesia.
He shrugged off the pressures of intimidation of playing against a higher-ranked team and said he wanted to focus on his side and strategies, a mental tactic he believed to have worked against Indonesia.
“It’s important to focus on ourselves, focus on our plans, especially against teams that are ranked higher than us. That’s what we did against Indonesia. We didn’t think much about them. We thought about ourselves, about developing our plans and that’s what gave us the chance to compete very well against them and we ended up drawing the match. It’s going be a very similar approach tomorrow to find another good performance,” he said.
Bangladesh and Bahrain have locked horns only once before and that too in 1979, when the middle eastern nation managed to better Bangladesh, beating them 2-0 in the Presidents Cup.
Following the match against Bahrain, Bangladesh will face Turkmenistan on June 11 and will take on hosts Malaysia on June 14.