If Bangladesh had not beaten the Maldives, their chase for the World Cup and Asian Cup qualification would have ended by now.
Following Tuesday's 2-1 win over visitors Maldives, Javier Cabrera’s side have earned the right to play six more qualifying matches in the second-round group stage.
They will face Australia, Palestine and Lebanon at home and away over the next eight months and a defeat to the Maldives would have meant otherwise.
The hard-fought victory with 10 men at the crowded Kings Arena gave the men in red and green relief and a moment of celebration after a long time.
“After all the work that we have done in the last two years and the progression that was there in the last six-seven months, especially if we would have missed the chance of playing those group stage qualification games, the process would have been almost broken,” said Cabrera during the post-match conference.
“So that was actually, it was a great relief, a great moment of happiness and celebration and still more celebration, hopefully.
“It's been a super hard fight, very tight game against a very strong team with quality players, especially in the midfield and in the forward line.
“There were a lot of difficult moments during the game like the moment when we started with 10. Anything could have happened, but the players actually managed very well. I think the atmosphere in the stadium helped us a lot.
“That is proper Bangladesh, that energy, that commitment, that sacrifice. Everyone together, positive in the messages, supporting everyone. Huge work by the players.”
Bangladesh will open their second round of World Cup qualification campaign away to Australia on November 16 before hosting Lebanon on November 21.
Cabrera is confident that his team would show same momentum against all the higher ranked sides in the group stage.
“What they did is commendable and I'm very positive and now we can celebrate for some days and travel to Australia and enjoy that game and let's see, we have a good opportunity in the group also,” said Cabrera.
“We have to analyze what we can do to improve. And definitely we are going to give a big fight to all the teams in the group, that's for sure.”
Rakib, who was the top performer in both the legs, hailed his teammates for the victory.
The Bashundhara Kings forward said: “If you work hard, you will get the result. We worked hard together for a long time. We don’t have a super star but we played as a team and all 11 players fought on the pitch. There was belief that we can achieve something good together."
