The draw for the forthcoming SAFF Championship was favorable in Bangladesh’s head coach Javier Cabrera’s eyes, and he expressed his desire to make the most of the chance to proceed to the semifinals of the regional football competition, which is set to take place in Bengaluru, India, from June 21 to July 4.
In light of the fact that two teams from the Middle East, namely Lebanon and Kuwait, were allowed to compete in the regional competition for the very first time, Bangladesh was placed in Group B, which had the top-ranked team in the group in addition to Maldives and Bhutan. Hosts India, Kuwait, Nepal, and Pakistan make up the members of Group A.
Despite winning the tournament in 2003, Bangladesh has not advanced past the group stage in any of the five tournaments since then. Despite the fact that the men who wear red and green haven’t had the best recent performance, Cabrera is still holding out hope that they will be able to get to the semifinals.
“The competition in both groups is fierce. We have the team in Lebanon with the highest ranking. After the draw was made in New Delhi, Cabrera addressed the media and told them, “We believe that if we are able to perform at the level that we have to, then we will have chances to achieve the objective, which is to reach the semifinals.”
In response to a different inquiry, the Spaniard provided the following explanation: “We believe we can make things difficult for everyone as we are going to give our best to make the semifinal possible.” To advance to the semifinals, we need to win two matches according to the strategy.
Before departing for Bengaluru, India, to compete in the SAFF Championship, the Bangladesh squad will first participate in a residential camp beginning on June 4, followed by an international friendly match against Cambodia on June 15.