Day boost for booters

The return of Bangladesh head coach Jamie Day in the tactical area for today's Bangabandhu Gold Cup semifinal against Palestine will surely serve as a motivational boost to the men in red and green. Day even conducted a vital training session just after being discharged from the hospital yesterday morning.

The match will get underway at 2:30pm at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Cox's Bazar. The venue, already muggy after yesterday's rain, is likely to be further affected as the low over the bay intensified into a cyclone yesterday.

The 38-year-old coach's sudden health concern jeopardized everything the home side have worked for so far as the semifinal clash with Palestine loomed overhead. However, Day's return to the dugout came as a big relief for everyone. In particular, the players were surely the most relieved as they can now concentrate fully on the game at hand. Bangladesh have performed well at the international level for the last two months under the Englishman's stewardship.

“I'm fine. I had a little bit of chest pain, which is nothing major. The treatment has been very good here, ECG and other scans, everything is very good. Now I'm looking forward to the game,” said a smiling Day at the team hotel after returning from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

Photo: FIROZ AHMED

The match against favourites Palestine is not going to be an uphill task for the hosts even though Bangladesh have never beaten the side in their three previous meetings. Bangladesh did however hold the superior side to a 1-1 draw in their first ever encounter in Dhaka but that was 12 years ago. Besides, Palestine, who are placed at 100th in FIFA Rankings, are ahead of Bangladesh in every aspect, such as their physique, skills, techniques, and pace. Hence, Day is mulling over whether to switch up his 4-4-2 formation to create a compact backline and midfield by playing a lone striker.

Day believes that Bangladesh have everything needed to turn the match's tide in their favour at their disposal following the team's great performances against Laos and the Philippines. However, Day is also aware of Bangladesh's limitations upfront and knows that goal scoring will be the aspect that separates the sides.

“The boys are ready for the game. We need to score to win and hopefully we can do it tomorrow. We know it's going to be a tough game,” Day said. “Palestine are a very good and strong side, so probably we will have to choose the strategy that will suit us best to get a result from the game.”

Having termed the home side as underdogs, captain Jamal Bhuiyan vowed to give a tough time to the visitors.

“Of Course Palestine are favourites to win the match but it is our home ground and we have to do our best,” said Jamal, who emphasized on how negotiating Palestine's set-pieces and using small tricks to avoid conceding will be crucial.

Meanwhile, coach Day faces another conundrum in selecting his staring eleven, especially after the team's performance against the Philippines in the group stages, and so, a couple of regular players may even be dropped in a bid to counter Palestine accordingly.