Before beginning the final preparations for today’s SAFF Championship match against Maldives, the coach of Bangladesh, Javier Cabrera, appeared to be taking a reflective walk around the artificial turf at the Karnataka State Association Stadium in Bengaluru with his head bowed and his hands behind his back.
Before the start of the practice, the strength and conditioning coach Ivan Razlog attempted to boost the players’ morale in preparation for today’s important game by having them compete in a game based on how quickly and accurately they could put on their bibs.
During the last training session, Cabrera then demonstrated to the players a variety of things that were intended to break down Maldives, who have shown to be a difficult opponent for Bangladesh in the South Asian football spectacular. Since the Maldives’ defeat to Bangladesh in the edition that took place in Dhaka in 2003, their record against Bangladesh has been perfect throughout the past two decades.
When Cabrera was asked if Bangladesh was prepared to handle the task, he responded, “We are ready.” It is a match that we consider to be of the utmost importance. It was disheartening for us to come away from the game against Lebanon with no points, but we can only rely on ourselves. We not only want to win, but we also need to win. The ambiance is quite pleasant.
Everyone is optimistic, and tomorrow we have a battle that will be quite challenging. However, we are certain that we will be able to accomplish our goal.
Cabrera had little interest in reflecting on the past since, to him, it was nothing more than a collection of numbers. He was certain that Bangladesh will head out onto the field with the intention of winning in order to maintain their chances of advancing to the semifinals.
“At this time, we are concentrating on the here and now. We are now experiencing a positive period, and regardless of the outcome of the game against Lebanon, we are feeling fairly pleased about the performance. That will give us the strength we need to play Maldives tomorrow,” the Spaniard said, adding that Sunday’s encounter was likely to be a 50-50 affair due to the fact that Bangladesh and Maldives each won one game in their previous two games against each other.
When it was pointed out to Cabrera that Bangladesh had failed to pull through in crucial moments during each of the previous five seasons of the SAFF Championship, he responded by saying, “I think the pressure applies to both sides because I don’t think Maldives will come looking for one point since that would be risky.” Both teams will give it their best effort, and we are looking forward to gaining three points out of the game.
Despite this, Maldives is anticipated to present Bangladesh with a number of challenges due to the fact that their players possess a higher level of expertise. On the other hand, Bangladesh is making preparations to limit its forwards.
“Today [Sunday], we held a meeting with the team. The players are familiar with the formation, and we always try to focus on the best players for the other team while also analyzing their relative strengths and weaknesses. in the game against Lebanon, we followed the same routine, and we want to do the same thing in the match against Maldives.
“We believe that we also have talented players in the forward line-up who are capable of winning matches,” Cabrera said, adding that he had placed an emphasis on set pieces in the training session. “They have talented players up front, but we believe that we also have talented players in the forward line-up who can win matches.”
Tapu Barman, a defender, remarked that “keeping a clean sheet will be vital,” and that “we will try our best to do that.” In addition to this, he reaffirmed the statements that were previously heard coming from the Bangladesh camp, adding, “We will treat this match like a final.”
After all of the last minute preparations were finished, Cabrera gathered everyone in the middle of the field and instructed the team manager, Amer Khan, the team leader, Shawakat Ali Khan Jahangir, and the team attendant, Mohammad Mohsin, to form a circle. As soon as the little briefing was through, the gamers let out some really loud shouts. They will be looking to create some noise once more following the so-called ‘final’.