Bangladesh will be without two of their star midfielders – Hamza Chowdhury and Shamit Shome – for the upcoming two FIFA friendly matches against hosts Nepal. The first game kicks off on Saturday at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.
Head coach Javier Cabrera and skipper Jamal Bhuiyan have repeatedly emphasized that the objective of these matches is preparation for next month’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong.
“It’s going to be a great challenge to test ourselves,” said Cabrera at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“We are thinking about how we can improve from the last match against Singapore and how we can give our best against Hong Kong in October,” added the Spanish coach.
Bangladesh last played on June 10, when they hosted Singapore in Dhaka and suffered a 2-1 defeat at the National Stadium.
For Hamza, who has been struggling with a right calf injury for several weeks, the friendlies come too soon. “It didn’t make much sense for him to take any risk in a friendly window,” explained Cabrera about the Leicester City midfielder, who made his Bangladesh debut against India in March and has since earned three caps.
Bangladesh will also miss the services of Canadian-Bangladeshi midfielder Shamit Shome, who impressed briefly on his debut against Singapore. Italy-based Fahmedul Islam and youngster Sheikh Morsalin, is currently in Vietnam with the national U23 team for the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Despite the absentees, Cabrera expressed confidence in the squad at his disposal in Nepal. “This is the A team. We expect a tough competition here. What we really need is to prepare in the best way for the Hong Kong match.”
The last time Bangladesh faced Nepal was also at the same venue, three years ago, when Cabrera’s side went down 3-1 in a FIFA friendly.
“It’s always difficult for Bangladesh to play here. My only experience in Kathmandu was in September 2022, when we were losing 3-0 at half-time. It was quite tough,” recalled Cabrera. “We know it’s going to be a hard battle again, but we believe this time we are going to be better.”
The Spaniard also pointed out that the Dasharath Stadium pitch is “not in the best condition.” The venue last hosted an international match in November 2023. A few months later, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared it unfit for AFC or FIFA tournaments due to not meeting international standards. Saturday’s match will test whether the ground has improved since then.
“The pitch is not under the best condition, but hopefully it doesn’t rain and we will be able to put on a good show,” said Cabrera, who had his full squad together only a week ago.
Skipper Jamal Bhuiyan echoed his coach’s sentiments: “We have been looking forward to these matches because they are important for us ahead of next month’s Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong.”
Nepal, meanwhile, are determined to bounce back from their disappointing 2-1 loss against Laos in June’s Asian Cup qualifier.
“We have prepared well for these two friendlies. We expect a tough physical contest,” said Nepal’s Australian head coach Matt Ross, who took charge of the team six months ago.
“We are desperate to win. We want to prove that our last performance against Laos was not acceptable. We are one hundred percent ready to go,” he added.
Bangladesh and Nepal will meet again for the second friendly on Tuesday.