The Bangladesh national football team will not have a better occasion to showcase how much they have improved in recent years despite not having their best squad available, when they host the Asian champions Qatar after 13 years at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Thursday at 7pm.
Bangladesh’s second Group E match in the second round of the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint-qualification will undoubtedly be their toughest game since their disappointing 2018 World Cup qualifying fixtures back in 2015-16.
Qatar are 125 places above the home side in the latest Fifa rankings but that makes it ever so better considering the facts that the middle eastern nation is the defending Asian Cup winner and the host nation of the upcoming World Cup. Bangladesh coach Jamie Day believes facing such a high profile team is an “invaluable experience” for his players and also for himself to upgrade their levels as players and coach.
Currently at the top of Group E, Qatar kicked off their campaign as favourites with a thrashing 6-0 win over Afghanistan, against whom, bottom-placed Bangladesh conceded a 1-0 defeat. They were held to a narrow goalless draw while hosting India in the next game despite trying as many as 27 shots on target. Captain Jamal Bhuiyan wants to take India’s creditable draw as motivation for his teammates.
(From L-R) Bangladesh head coach Jamie Day, Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuiyan, Qatar forward Ali and Qatar head coach Felix Sanchez pose for a photograph at the pre-match press conference ahead of their encounter in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s previous records against the big teams in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers will be something the current squad members would try to forget while the recent records provide motivation. In 2015-16, they suffered 8-0, 5-0 and 4-0 defeats against the sides like Australia, Jordan and Tajikistan. On the other hand, since 2018, Bangladesh has played 14 matches - winning eight, losing four with their biggest defeat being 2-0 against Palestine and Nepal.
Dhaka will be hosting a Bangladesh-Qatar game after 40 years. It hosted two legs during the 1980 Asian Cup qualifiers, drawing the opening leg 1-1 and losing the second leg 4-0. The two sides were placed in the same group again during the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers when Chittagong hosted the first leg with Qatar winning 4-1 while Bangladesh lost the away leg 3-0. Qatar qualified for the final round but finished bottom in the group. However, the current Qatar team is a much stronger outfit now.
Despite all the records and stats that put the visitors miles ahead, the men in red and green will not have the best squad available with their three regular defenders and two defensive midfielders ruled out due to injury and suspension. The available defence line is a young one where experienced Yeasin Khan and Rayhan Hasan may take the responsibility to guide Rahmat Mia and rookie Riyadul Hasan on the pitch. Another young defender, Tutul Hossain Badsha returned to training from injury three days ago but Day said he will be available for selection.
Not only the designated defenders, all the Bangladeshi players may have to defend for most of the time with an eye to attack on the counter and make the best use of the long throw-ins which is arguably Bangladesh’s specialty. Qatar will try to be more clinical in front of the goal after their goalless draw against India and their Sudanese-born forward Almoez Ali will be in focus after netting a hat-trick against the Afghans.
Off the pitch, Day is excited to have Spanish coach Felix Sanchez in the opponent’s dugout. While it is the second year for Day as Bangladesh’s head coach, Sanchez has been involved in Qatar football for 13 years. The Spaniard, who was raised as a footballer in Barcelona, started with the junior side before taking the helm of the national side of oil-rich country back in 2017.
Bangladesh players share a light moment during a practice session ahead of their 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint-qualification encounter against Qatar in Dhaka, Bangladesh
The weather forecast says there could be rains today and if that happens during the game it may provide a slight advantage to the home side but when the question arrived in the pre-match presser, Sanchez showed no sign of worry saying that his team is prepared to face any situation.
“Every team wants to win, so does Bangladesh” might not be the realistic approach for the home side but Day also repeatedly reminded that he is more focused on how his players perform on the match-day than the result and take some motivation before facing strong neighbours India away five days later.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh trained at the BNS yesterday morning while Qatar had their lone training session at the same venue in the evening. BTV and Bangla TV will telecast the game live.