The Bangladesh football team arrived in Kuwait Sunday from Saudi Arabia ahead of the crucial World Cup qualifying match against Palestine later this week.
Head coach Javier Cabrera said the 15-day conditioning camp in Taif city was worthy preparation before facing the higher-ranked Palestine side.
“It was a great experience, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to come here. It’s been the perfect time and facility to develop the ideas we had prepared before coming here,” the Spanish coach said before leaving the Saudi Arabian city Sunday.
“The ideas should become the base of the structure for this year's performance. Everything has been great – the hotel, hospitality, food, facilities, especially the gym, which was also quite good for us. Having the chance to play against Sudan was huge for us,” he added.
Cabrera’s charges played a couple of closed-door practice matches against Sudan during their stay in Taif, where he fielded almost all squad members.
The team trained at King Fahad Sports City during the camp and held their last practice session at ground 1, which focused on tactics.
“The last session was more tactical before going to Kuwait. It was a very important session to sum up the whole two weeks we have been here.”
Versatile defender Saad Uddin has been dealing with minor injuries, but Cabrera said the full-back’s condition has improved.
Overall, the tactician was content with the whole squad.
“We have had a lot of new and young players introduced to our philosophy. They have responded very well. It’s very positive to have the whole squad ready.”
Bangladesh however, will be missing the services of center-back Tariq Raihan Kazi and young forward Sheikh Morsalin due to injury.
Topu Barman has returned from suspension to fill the void left by Tariq, but finding a replacement for Morsalin up front will be something interesting to look forward to during the Palestine match on March 21.