Bangladesh pledged to place the utmost emphasis on team discipline and playing positive football before leaving Dhaka for Abu Dhabi yesterday, ahead of their two upcoming Fifa international matches.
The men in red and green will contest their final match of the 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qualifier against Jordan next Thursday. Before that, the Bengal Tigers will face the United Arab Emirates in an international friendly as part of their preparation.
Jordan outplayed Bangladesh 4-0 in the first leg in Dhaka in September last year and the former are also one of the favourites to qualify for the final round along with Asia champions Australia. The Jordanians, who have two games left in the qualifiers, have roped in former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp on the eve of the Bangladesh clash.
“Jordan are a very strong side. But we want to do our best and put up a positive performance. You also need the favour of luck to get something good against them,” said Bangladesh’s Spanish head coach Gonzalo Sanchez Moreno in a press conference yesterday.
Newly-appointed captain and veteran defender Rezaul Karim, on the other hand, said, “Discipline is a must when you are playing for the national team. As some players have received suspensions for breaking discipline recently, we will try to be more regimented.”
Bangladesh are scheduled to stay in Dubai till this Monday before flying for Amman, Jordan. The Bengal Tigers sit bottom of Group B with one point from seven matches.