MD ANWAR ULLAH, Dhaka:Host Bangladesh and the guest Nepal are ready to lock horns in FIFA friendly match at 5pm on Friday to break the eight-month deadlock of competitive football matches.
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) are all set to hold two-match series dubbed as ‘Mujib Borsho FIFA International Football Series 2020’ and the first match will kick off at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
These matches are arranged as part of celebration of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The match will go underway with a huge enthusiasm of players, organizers and fans. In fact, whole football fraternity has worn a festive mood as all have got the chance to watch football match after a long time.
Only 8000 tickets will be available for the spectators, as social distance will be strictly maintained in the stadium for Covid-19.
However, coaches and players talked to the media in a pre-match press meet on Thursday when the visiting side’s coach was looking forward to winning the matches and the host coach was not clear about his expectation but to say he wants to see the boys are free from injury and well-prepared to play.
About the hosts’ preparation the Head Coach of Bangladeshi booters Jamie Day said, “Team has made good preparation. The boys have trained hard for last three weeks. It’s pretty improvement and I’m pleased with the level of their endeavor. Credits go to the players for what they have done in short space of time.”
About his team’s prospect against the opponents, Jamie said, “Nepalese obviously are very good team. They have some very good and attacking players and it would be tough to overwhelm them. As we worked hard and our fitness radically improved in that time, so we are looking forward to playing, winning and bringing football back to the fraternity after a long time.
“We want to win. All want to win but my focus is not only about winning. I’ll be happy if we play all four games and play fantastic game against Qatar. So that’s the focus in next six weeks,” Jamie added.
Jamie, who is eyeing the away match of World Cup 2022 qualifying against Qatar, also said, “We have to get 23 or 25 players ready for Qatar match. We have two games now and get some players and we need two games before playing Qatar.
Captain Jamal Bhuiyan also highlighted the resumption of the game after a long interval and said, “After a long time, we have an international game against Nepal. We are not 100 percent yet but we have been practicing last three weeks; so hopefully we will win the match. But the most important thing is to get fitness.”
Nepal team’s coach Bal Gopal Maharjan, who oozed confidence about winning the games, said, “Actually the record of this ground is very good for us. Since we won some recent matches, so we have belief to win.”
“Yes, some players were ruled out due to Covid-19, but that does not matter as rest of the players available for the matches are fit enough to fight out,” said Bal Gopal Maharjan.
