Kings Arena, the home ground of Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings, is set to make another historic debut when it hosts its first ever international match with the FIFA friendly between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the capital Sunday.
The stadium, which made history by hosting the maiden top-flight league match in February last year, will now become the first privately-owned football venue in the country to hold an international game.
The first tie of the two-match friendly series was initially scheduled to take place Monday but later shifted a day earlier following request from the visiting side.
Hosts eye first win over Afghans in 43 years
Bangladesh couldn't beat Afghanistan in six previous meetings as the men in red and green conceded two defeats and earned four draws, according to 11v11.
Their only victory over the Afghans came in 1979 during a 3-2 encounter in the qualifying round of the seventh Asian Cup in Dhaka but it is not enlisted on the aforementioned website.
The last clash between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw during the joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers in June, 2021.
It will be Bangladesh’s first official tie since the SAFF Championship in India in June-July earlier this year where they advanced to the semi-finals for the first time in 14 years.
The Bengal Tigers want to carry on the same momentum from the SAFF Championship campaign and register their first victory against the Afghans.
This is what captain Jamal Bhuiyan and in-form winger Rakib Hossain talked about while elaborating on the team’s preparation and mentality in the last few days.
Jamal, who was the last man to join the training camp after returning from Argentina where he made his debut with Sol de Mayo, however reminded the strength of the opponents.
Afghanistan (157) are 32 places above Bangladesh (189) in the latest FIFA rankings and the visitors also have a host of players who ply their trade at different leagues of Europe.
Bangladesh can count on the advantage of having a big group of players from four-time premier league winners Kings who trained and played at the match venue for over a year.
The two sides trained at the 6,000-capacity Kings Arena in the last few days.
The two international friendlies are part of Bangladesh’s preparation for the upcoming World Cup and Asian Cup pre-qualifiers against the Maldives next month.
The second friendly will be held at the same venue Thursday.
