Maldives are entering the field after more than a year. But the opponent Bangladesh was in the game. Last played against Bhutan. Javier Cabrera's team is going to play with strong preparation against Maldives in the FIFA friendly match on Wednesday. In the press conference today, the coach and captain indirectly stated the goal of winning. Bangladesh will advance in the rankings if they win the match at King's Arena on Wednesday at 6 pm. It will give them a chance to play against a very similar team in the pot three in the Asian Cup qualifiers.
So no one wants to miss such an opportunity in their own field. Maldives is at 163 in the FIFA ranking. And the position of Bangladesh is 185. In the press conference before the first match today, Spanish coach Cabrera said, 'To be honest, our preparation has been good. We started practice with a few initially, later Bashundhara Kings players joined. Then we played a warm-up match against Fortis, which was a positive thing. I want the boys to play for the fans, play with responsibility and perform well match by match.'
Regular captain Jamal Bhuiyan is not playing due to family reasons. The captain's responsibility fell on the shoulders of defender Tapu Burman. He is also confident, 'The preparation is very good. Every match is important for us. The coach has already said everything. In this place, I think everyone knows what to do, what is the work of our players. Tomorrow we have to prove, we have worked, we have to implement our plan. I have faith in everyone in the team, I am keeping faith.'
Before Maldives, Bangladesh won two warm-up matches against Fortis FC in domestic football. Everyone tried to fix themselves there. Tapu's voice is similar, 'Winning was not important for us in those two matches against Fortis, we tried to understand what we did, what we did wrong there, we worked on it. If we can apply that in the field then hopefully we will do well. We would like to congratulate the U-20 team and the women's team. Now it's our turn, playing on our ground, we definitely have to get a good result here, I believe that.'
Bangladesh has a good record in the last three matches. Two wins and one draw. Especially in World Cup qualifiers there are draws and wins. Although in 2016 going to Male there is a shame of losing by 5 goals. The two teams have met 18 times so far. Bangladesh won in 6. Draw in 4. Maldives won 8 matches.
Behind the Maldives match, thoughts of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers have also filled Tapu's mind. It came out in his words, 'Everyone in the team thinks that they have to give their best in the two matches. Our aim is to do well in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, for sure we have to give our best here. The last match of the season, we want the best of the best. We watched the videos of the matches we played against Maldives and other teams that Maldives played, the coach worked on their strengths and weaknesses. Last we played Bhutan, then there was a break of two months. But we are fit. Maldives is a strong team, we will field them with that respect.'
