Whenever the Bangladesh national football team faced middle-eastern nations such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Yemen, defeat was inevitable. However, in 2011, Bangladesh shocked the world by defeating Lebanon 2-0 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers in Dhaka.
Former national forward Zahid Hasan Emily, who scored one of Lebanon’s two goals in a memorable victory against Bangladesh, believes the red and green can produce a good result against the same opponents in today’s SAFF Championship match in Bengaluru. He recalled the buildup to that victory as he reflected on Lebanon’s upcoming match against Bangladesh.
“We were determined to perform well in Beirut, despite the fact that the weather, cuisine, and travel were all working against us. We were not the type of team to surrender four goals to Lebanon. We were extremely exhausted before the game, and our performance was poor,” Emily told The Daily Star. “We defeated Pakistan at home before playing to a scoreless draw against them on the road.” Then, we were a strong team that performed well at home. Our team was excellent, but we lost 4-0 to Lebanon in an away match, so we were determined to establish that we were not a team that allowed four goals.
“After analyzing the away game, we determined that we could prevail. All the competitors gave their all to win the match because they were devoted to improving. Emily stated, “When you have a commitment, you can do whatever you want.”
The prolific striker also believes that the current team is capable of achieving a positive result against Lebanon and has advised that they draw inspiration from the 2011 victory to create an upset.
“Learn from the past to find the correct path. The lads can draw motivation from that game and play well against Lebanon. If the lads are sufficiently motivated and dedicated to give their all on the field, it is feasible to achieve a positive result,” Emily said, adding that securing a point against Lebanon would be a major accomplishment in order to reach the goal of playing in the semifinals.
Bangladesh must get off to a strong start in the tournament. Therefore, if you perform well against Lebanon but lose the game, the lads will perform better in their next two matches against Maldives and Bhutan, according to Emily. “I believe the match will end in a tie because Lebanon appeared exhausted after playing four matches in a short period of time in India, while Bangladesh have had sufficient time to adjust to the conditions in India after playing two matches in Cambodia.”
Emily pointed out, however, that Bangladesh would have to play better than they did in the FIFA friendly against Cambodia.
“The boys must exert the same level of effort as they do in club football.” But if they play like they did against Cambodia, Lebanon will outplay Bangladesh. However, I believe the guys are capable of performing better,” he stated.