Bangladesh football team captain Jamal Bhuiyan said reaching the semi-final of the SAFF Bangabandhu Championship 2023 is a good achievement for them after beating Bhutan in the last Group B match in Bengaluru, India Wednesday.
Having been placed in Pool B, Bangladesh began the campaign with a defeat against Lebanon before beating the Maldives and Bhutan in the next two fixtures.
They conceded first in the last two matches against the Maldives and Bhutan but recovered well to secure 3-1 victory in both ties to finish as the group runners-up.
“It's a good achievement for us because it was a difficult group. For now, we have to focus on the semi-final,” said Jamal after beating Bhutan.
The Denmark-born midfielder hailed his teammates for coming back to the game after conceding first despite weariness.
“It was a difficult match for us because they started very energetic and scored the first goal but we managed to come back. Big respect to the boys because all of them were tired. Now we have to recover and be ready for the semi-final,” said the midfield anchor.
Bangladesh will face Kuwait in the first semi-final Saturday afternoon at the same venue and Jamal knows the strength of their next opponent.
“We have to talk about them (Kuwait). We know they are a very strong team. They made big problems for India. We have to analyze them and take them on,” said Jamal.
