Yesterday, on the day of their match against Bhutan in Bengaluru, the Bangladesh national football team continued to practice despite the heavy rain that was falling outside at the KFA football Stadium.
Before moving on to set-piece exercises, the booters attempted to carry out game plans as Head Coach Javier Cabrera gave instructions from the middle of the artificial pitch.
The players and coaching staff from Bangladesh departed the field with grins on their faces after participating in a one-hour training session.
In light of the fact that Bangladesh is on the brink of qualifying for the semifinals of the SAFF Championship for the first time in 14 years, the question that has to be answered is whether or not they will be able to maintain those grins.
On the other hand, the situation can become more complicated if the Maldives win their play against Lebanon today and Bangladesh go on to win their match against Bhutan. In the event that this occurs, there will be a three-way tie for first place on the basis of head-to-head competition, goal differential, and total goals scored.
Anisur Rahman Zico, who coached Bangladesh during the 2016 Asian Cup Pre-qualifiers, remarked that Bhutan would “not be an easy opponent” despite the fact that Bangladesh had a better head-to-head record against Bhutan than Bangladesh had against any other team.
“In the previous two iterations of the SAFF Championship, we came so close to advancing out of the group stage, but we were unable to do it (progress).” Zico, who was also a part of the 2021 SAFF Championship in Male, when Bangladesh needed a win against Nepal but they gave away a lead to play out a 1-1 draw, said that it would be a remarkable accomplishment if we can replicate our performance in the Maldives. “If we can repeat our Maldives performance, it will be a memorable achievement,” he added.
Defender Tapu Barman, too, shared a similar attitude in his response.
“In the event that Maldives are defeated by Lebanon in the first match, we will need a draw in order to go to the semifinals. According to the central defender, “the most important thing is that we are not going to lose the motivation that we gained from the match against the Maldives.”
According to Javier Cabrera, “the mood in the camp is extremely upbeat right now.”
“We have a strong combination of young and seasoned players on our team. The 2021 SAFF Championship is something that many of our players have participated in before. According to Cabrera, “We rely on ourselves rather than thinking about what occurred in 2021 or before.”
The team’s center defender Tariq Raihan Kazi is expected to be sidelined for the encounter against Bhutan, and head coach Cabrera is likely to make two substitutions from the lineup that played Maldives and won 3-1.