The Bangladesh National Football team will play hosts Bhutan in the first match of the two-match FIFA International Friendlies Series on Thursday.
The match will kick-off at 6:00 pm local time at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu.
The second and last FIFA International Friendly match between two teams will be held on Sunday (September 08) at the same time and same venue.
Ahead of Thursday’s match, the touring Bangladesh Football team is passing busy time in Thimphu on Wednesday.
After addressing the pre-match official press conference at the Changlimithang Stadium premises Wednesday, the Bangladesh team made their final practice session at the same stadium at the evening from 06:00 pm.
Addressing the pre-match press conference, the Spanish head coach of Bangladesh, Javier Cabrera, said, “We are comfortable here with local facilities and good hospitality, although we have some challenges, we came here to win.”
Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan said, “We have good practices here, we are ready to face Bhutan and expecting two tough and good matches (with Bhutan).”
The head coach of Bhutanese team Autsushi Nakamura and Bhutanese captain Nima Wangdi also spoke on the event.
The Bangladesh team, which reached the Bhutanese capital Friday afternoon, started their preparations in Thimphu with first-ever mountain hiking for about two hours near Buddha point in Thimphu on Saturday.
They made their gym session at the team hotel on Sunday morning, practice at the artificial turf of Changjiji Stadium, and prepared themselves at the match venue, Changlimithang Stadium.
The Bangladesh team also made their second consecutive practice session at the match venue, Changlimithang Stadium, in Thimphu on Tuesday.
Footballers of Bangladesh team: goalkeepers: Mitul Marma, Shujon Hossain, and Pappu Hossain
Defender: Topu Barman, Bishwanath Ghosh, Md Saaduddin, Mehdi Hasan, Rahmat Mia, and Isha Faysal Shakil Hossain and Shakil Ahad Topu.
Midfielder : Sohel Rana, Mohammad Hridoy, Jamal Bhuyan, Md Sohel Rana, Mirajul Islam, Chandan Roy and Mojibur Rahman Rony
Forward: Rakib Hossain, Shekh Morsalin, Faysal Ahmed Fahim, Shahiar Emon, and Rabby Hossain Rahul.
Bangladesh’s national team debuted in 1973 and has yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals. They were dismissed in the first round of their only Asian Cup appearance to date in 1980; by qualifying for it, Bangladesh is one of only two South Asian nations to achieve the feat. The nation’s best results came at South Asian level where it won the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup and were gold medalists at the 1999 South Asian Games. Bangladesh was one of Asia’s emerging teams in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, since the turn of the century, top-level football in Bangladesh is played somewhere in the shadow of the country’s national cricket team. This is mostly due to inadequate budget allocation and lack of technical skills adaptation. to date, football remains a popular sport in Bangladesh but cricket remains the most popular sport in the nation.
