Bangladesh face Malaysia today in friendly
Bangladesh will take on hosts Malaysia today in a FIFA international friendly match as part of their preparation for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Australia and Jordan.
The match kicks off at 6:45pm Bangladesh Standard Time at the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, Malaysia. The two sides are familiar to each other having played 10 times in the past with Malaysia dominating the statistics by winning eight matches.
Bangladesh tasted their only win against the Southeast Asian nation in 1982 Asian Games when they defeated them by 2-1.
This will be, however, their first meeting since November 2012 when they played out a 1-1 draw in an international friendly in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia Under-22 side recently shattered Bangladesh national team’s dreams of winning the Bangabandhu Gold Cup with a shocking 3-2 win in the final in February this year.
In the current Malaysia national team, there are only three players from the Bangabandhu Cup winning squad, according to Masud Parvez, an assistant coach of visiting Bangladesh team.
Bangladesh are expected to put the memory of Bangabandhu Cup aside and take today’s the match as a pure preparation for their World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos in Perth on September 3.
‘This match against Malaysia is a preparation match before facing Australia,’ national team coach Lodewijk de Kruif was quoted by the official website of Football Association of Malaysia as saying.
‘For us, this will be a good preparation. To win, draw or lose is not important for us.
‘The most important thing is to measure the tactical and fitness levels of players for 90 minutes.
‘I know their style of play because we faced their [Malaysia] Under-22 squad at the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. At that time, we had a bad experience when we lost to them in the final.’
Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam said they will try to deliver their best to get some extra-motivation before facing reigning Asian champions Australia.
‘I know them [Malaysia] very well because I played against Malaysia many times,’ Mamunul said.
‘Their team is getting stronger than before because they are a blend of youth and experience.’
‘We will give our best to win the match to get inspiration before facing Australia.’
Forward Zahid Hasan Ameli, who scored the equaliser from the spot to hold hosts Malaysia with a 1-1 draw three years ago, echoed the same with Mamunul.
‘They [Malaysia] are better than us but we proved in the past that we have the potential to offer them a huge challenge,’ said the veteran forward.
Bangladesh team underwent a one-and-a-half hour training session at the match venue on Friday evening.
-With New Age input
