Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuiyan said the national football team have improved a lot than before and want to progress further when they take on Afghanistan in the second and last match of the FIFA friendly series at Kings Arena Thursday.
The men in red and green put up one of their best performances in recent times during the SAFF Championship two months ago and replicated it in the first friendly which ended goalless Monday at the same venue.
The home side dominated the game and went close to scoring at least twice but left the pitch with a creditable draw as Jamal termed the situation of the team “positive” and believes that they are on the right track.
“Talking about the national team’s performance, we are at a good space. It’s positive. We all performed well in the SAFF Championship. So I think we are far better than before. We are on a good track,” said Jamal after Wednesday’s training session at Bashundhara Sports Complex.
The midfielder however, was unable to forget the missed opportunities in the opening match, especially the ones squandered by forwards Sheikh Morsalin and Rakib Hossain.
“We were unlucky in the first game because we got good chances but couldn’t utilize them. This is why we are a little bit disappointed. I think Afghanistan are also disappointed because they thought they would win the first match.”
Afghanistan’s Kuwaiti coach Abdullah Al Mutairi was not happy with the defence in the last match and likely to make changes in the line-up to deal with Bangladesh attacks better.
Jamal expected a “tough encounter” and urged his teammates to take their chances when they seek to conclude the friendly series on a positive note.
“It will be a tough game,” said the Sol de Mayo and national team captain before adding, “It’s going to be 50-50 match. We have to convert the chances we get.”
Bangladesh’s Spanish head coach Javier Cabrera told reporters that his charges are “ready” and “excited” ahead of the second Afghan test which kicks off at 5pm and will be shown live on T Sports.