Bangladesh Under-23 national football team will face their Kuwaiti counterpart in the home match of the Olympic pre-qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
The Kuwaiti side played and won one warm-up match against 13-time Kuwait Premier League champion club Al Qadsia SC after their February’s first leg match against Bangladesh which they won 2–0.
Kuwait’s coach Maher Al Shammeri two days earlier, just after his arrival in Dhaka, said that they were here to confirm the next round berth and he repeated the statement in the pre-match press conference held on Tuesday.
‘We are expecting a good game and surely we will play to ensure our place in the next round,’ Maher said.
He also praised his opponents saying, ‘Bangladesh defended very well in the last game. I hope this time they will play a bit open.’
The team’s captain Omar Hammad thinks this match will be a bit tougher than the earlier one as it is in the foreign soil but like his mentor he is also confident.
‘We played in our country and won but it will be a bit difficult this time. We, Inshallah, will qualify,’ the skipper said.
A draw will be enough to take the Kuwaiti team to the next round as they already are in a good position wining the home match. Bangladesh will need to win at least by a margin of two goals, to qualify, which is almost impossible as Kuwait is 57 steps ahead of them in FIFA world ranking.
The Bangladeshi team, who got only two practice sessions to prepare for the game, did not play any practice match but still their Croatian coach Robert Rubcic is hopeful about a positive outcome.
‘It is a new 90 minutes and anything can happen in this period. I have faith in my boys and hope we will be able to show something different this time,’ said Rubcic, who guided the team in four international outings in all of which they became unsuccessful.
Rubcic decided to play in a traditional 4-4-2 formation although he admitted that it was very dangerous.
‘We will go brave this time using two players in the forward. I know this is very dangerous but we have to do this as we have already lost our first game,’ he said.
The Croatian coach also said that the striker Tauhidul Alam Sabuj would not be able to play the match because of a tendon injury.
The match will begin at 5:00pm and the tickets will be available at the venue for two hours before the game.
The Starting XI: Mohammed Nehal (goalkeeper), Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Mintu Sheikh, Uttam Kumar Banik, Yamin Ahmed Munna, Yusuf, Shahedul Alam Shahed, Monaem Khan Raju, Sheikh Alamgir Kabir Rana, Mithun Chowdhury and Shakhawat Hossain Rony.
Courtesy of New Age
