Bangladesh will try to carry on their winning spree as they face Laos in their Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
The match will kick-off at 7pm local time.
Jamie Day’s side made a giant leap in qualifying for the next step as they beat the East Asian side in the away fixture last week but the men in red and green will eye to reduce set-piece threats from the opponents, and take more from the chances they get in front of the home crowd.
After the 1-0 victory thanks to a stunning goal by Rabiul Hasan on Thursday at New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, a draw will be enough for Bangladesh today. But Jamal Bhuiyan and co warned the visitors that they are “not going to the game for a draw”.
The Bangladesh defence encountered quite a few set-piece threats during the opening half of the away win but custodian Ashraful Islam Rana’s heroic display, and the fighting spirit in the second-half provided Bangladesh more confidence to keep the winning tendency at home as well.
“We know their set-pieces can be dangerous and we have worked on it earlier. Now we know how they play. I think we have to focus on our game and even capitalize the half-chances at home because we want to win the game,” said Bangladesh coach Day during the pre-match presser yesterday.
On the other hand, the away team also found a certain threat in Bangladesh ranks.
Yeasin Khan, Tutul Hossain Badsha, Rahmat Mia and Bishwanath Ghosh were at the back-four in the last game but the latter’s long throw-ins caused trouble on the opponents’ half which Laos’ Singaporean coach V Sundram Moorthy mentioned as “dangerous.”
“I think the most important thing is making use of our free-kicks and corner kicks. That’s key in winning the game,” said Moorthy. “We have identified our mistakes from the first game and we want to rectify it and win the second leg so that we can qualify.”
Day admitted yet again that their first-half performance against Laos away was not good enough but he, along with captain Jamal credited the boys for showing great spirit in the second half and eventually Jamal’s defence-splitting long cross gave Rabiul the occasion to secure the winner.
“The first match was tough especially in the first half. In the second half, we played a little bit better. If we look at all other away matches, visiting teams lost but only we won our away match, so the credit goes to us. For tomorrow’s match, they are going to attack us, so we have to be cautious from the first minute.” said Jamal.
It was Thai league winger Souk Aphone Vongchiengkham whose set-pieces created many of the threats for the Bangladesh defence. The Laos captain wants to bounce back from home defeat saying “Tomorrow’s [today] game, 100 percent to pray.”
Prior to the game, the home side trained at the BNS in the afternoon while the visiting side trained in the evening.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Day
“We want to start tomorrow’s match on the front foot with good tempo that we intend to carry to the last minute. We have an advantage and we want to use it. We have to use our crowd at home, it is our stadium, it is our country, so we need to take the game to last. Though it’s not going to be an easy task but I think we need to put pressure on them in the first half.
Laos coach V Sundram Moorthy
Bangladesh have improved if you look at them over the years. They have good speedy players, especially their wingers are very fast. They are also good at long throw-ins which can be dangerous. Let’s see how we handle them. We also have our plan and will try to win the game.
Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuiyan
Everybody in the squad knows it is an important match because everyone knows if we can’t go through, we can’t play international matches for two to three years. Every player is motivated to perform well and I don’t need to motivate them any further.
