Bangladesh will be relying on their recent form to create history when they face Lebanon in the first leg of their second round World Cup pre-qualifiers in Beirut today.
A win in the match, scheduled at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium at 8:00pm, will take Bangladesh one step closer to a place among the top-20 Asian sides, who will compete in the main qualification round for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Bangladesh have never crossed the hurdle of pre-qualifiers since the format was introduced in 2006, but have a good chance of progressing this time round following a 3-0 win on aggregate against Pakistan in the first round.
The draw of the competition gave them an advantage as they have got Lebanon, unlike South Asian neighbours India, Maldives and Nepal, who will face UAE, Jordan and Iran respectively in the second round.
Lebanon who are currently at 177th position in the world rankings, 14 places behind Bangladesh, recently played three practice matches against UAE, Oman and Kuwait and lost 2-6, 0-1 and 0-6 respectively.
These matches brought Lebanon out of a two-and-a-half year hiatus from international football.
Bangladesh on the other hand won two of their last five matches and drew another.
‘We know that we have to beat an out of form Lebanon to be a part of history and each and every player is very excited about it,’ Biplob Bhattacharjee told New Age from Beirut.
‘A positive result in this match will give us an opportunity to start our home match in a good position and thus this match is very important for us,’ Biplob added.
-With New Age input
