Bangladesh national football team reached Bishkek on Saturday morning and held their first training session in the evening ahead of their World Cup qualifying match against the hosts Kyrgyzstan on October 13. The team, which left Dhaka on Friday, defied the jet-leg and had a one-hour light training session at the Kyrgyzstan Football Federation ground.Masud Parvez Kaiser, the assistant coach of the Bangladesh team, said over phone from Bishkek that national team coach Fabio Lopez had briefed his charges before the start of the training and asked them to be serious till the last minute of the match against Kyrgyzstan.
With the match, the Italian will stand in the Bangladesh dugout for the first time after taking charge on September 10.
‘All of us, team management, players and coaching staff, have one target — which is to play well,’ Lopez told his charges as quoted by Kaiser.
‘I want the players to be serious till the last minute. Every player in my squad is equal to me and I can play anyone in this match.’
Kaiser said that the players looked very serious during training and seemed they were ready to give their best against mighty Kyrgyzstan, who played out a 2-2 draw with Tajikistan at home on October 8.
‘The players seemed to have taken the coach’s briefing very seriously,’ Kaiser told New Age over phone.
‘Kyrgyzstan were held to a draw against Tajikistan at home earlier in the week. So, they are eager to win the game against us by a big margin.’
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club travelled to Kyrgyzstan two months before to play AFC Cup qualifiers and beat Macau outfit Casa Benfica 4-1 and played a 1-1 draw with local giants FC Alga to reach the next round.
Kaiser believes the experience will help the national team to give their best as there are some Sheikh Jamal players in the squad.
‘Jamal players of the national team have played here in the AFC Cup qualifiers, which should boost their confidence before facing the home side.’
-With New Age input
