Bangladesh will lock horns with Malaysia in a Fifa international friendly today as part of their preparation for the upcoming 2018 Russia World Cup second round away qualifier against Australia next week. The friendly, scheduled to be held at Shah Alam Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, will kick off at 6:45pm (Bangladesh standard time).
As the head coach and the players themselves mentioned earlier, the friendly will be a good opportunity for the Bengal Tigers to warm up ahead of the Australia clash and the home qualifier against Jordan, slated for September 8.
Although the two sides are neck-and-neck in accordance with the world rankings (Malaysia, placed 168th, sit two places above Bangladesh), the head-to-head record gives the home side the edge. In eight encounters between the two teams, Malaysia have won six with Bangladesh’s sole victory coming in the 1982 Asian Games.
Recently, Malaysia sent their Under-23 side to take part in the third edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Dhaka and they took home the trophy, beating the hosts’ senior team 3-2 in a thrilling final.
On the eve of the friendly, Bangladesh’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif said, “We came here to play a preparation match before playing against Australia in the Fifa World Cup 2018 qualifiers, which is very important for our team. Malaysia are a very good team that I saw in many videos and also in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Dhaka.”
The 45-year old Dutchman continued, “They included more senior players in this team and became stronger than before. It will be a tough fight and also a good match for both sides.”
Bangladesh captain and talismanic midfielder Mamunul Islam wants to win the friendly and bag some confidence heading into the Australia tie.
“It will be a tough match. I know their team very well because I played against them before. They are getting stronger than before by including some good and experienced senior players. We will try and put full effort to win the game in order to get inspiration before facing Australia,” said the ace Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club footballer yesterday.
The men in red and green underwent a practice session at the match venue yesterday afternoon.