Bangladesh will be up against a difficult task when they take on Palestine in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town, Bahrain Sunday.
The men in red and green began their Group B campaign with a 1-0 loss against 111th ranked Bahrain Friday at the same venue, and the game against the Palestinians (100th) is expected to be much tougher.
The match begins at 7pm, Bangladesh standard time.
Bangladesh, ranked 192nd, might be up against it but head coach Jamie Day cut a hopeful figure on the eve of the Palestine clash.
“We need to get something from the match after losing [Friday]. It's going to be similar to what we've done before. We want to obviously start the game well. We want to be compact to give ourselves a chance of getting something out of the match. And hopefully we can capitalise on the mistakes they make,” Day told the media Saturday.
“Well, as I've said before, Palestine and Bahrain are best teams in the group. So, the match against Palestine will be another tough one. But we're up for the challenge. We'll give it our best to hopefully get something out of the game,” he added.
Day deployed a five-man defence against Bahrain, and when queried as to whether he’ll use a similar strategy against the Palestinians, he said, “Well, it's something we'll look at. We'll have a discussion and decide which is the best formation to play.”
In the other match of the day, Bahrain will lock horns with Sri Lanka at 10pm.
Bangladesh Olympic team began their 2020 @theafcdotcom U-23 Championship Qualifiers mission with a 1-0 loss against host Bahrain at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town Friday nighthttps://t.co/0Y6CiaVnk0#FOOTBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHFOOTBALL #BFF #AFC #AFCU23CHAMPIONSHIP
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) March 22, 2019
Bangladesh conclude their qualifying campaign against Sri Lanka Tuesday.
The 11 group champions and four best runners-up sides will qualify for the final round, scheduled to be hosted by Thailand next year in January.
Bangladesh have never crossed the first hurdle since this tournament’s inception in 2012.
In the previous 12 matches in this tournament, Bangladesh have never won and their best result (0-0) came against India four years ago.
