It's make or break against Afghans

Despite their waning prowess in South Asian football, there is one statistic that Bangladesh can take heart from and one that they would desperately want to keep unblemished. The men in red and green have never lost against Afghanistan -- the holders of SAFF Championship and arguably the most-improved side of the region over the last decade -- in a competitive match. Bangladesh have beaten the Lions of Khorasan once in five meetings while drawing on the other four occasions, the last of which came during a friendly at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in June this year.

Tomorrow at the Trivandrum Sports Hub, alternatively called the Greenfield Stadium, Mamunul and Co. will be taking on the Afghans, knowing that this 'is a must-win game' for them and one that might shape their fate in the tournament. After meek exits from the group stages of the two previous editions, Bangladesh and their new coach Maruful Haque are bent on winning this opening match so that the rest of the campaign in the group, which also features the ever-so-impressive Maldives and a fast-improving Bhutan, becomes easier.

The coach admitted that he didn't get enough time to prepare the side for this major tournament, but felt the experience of playing together and having played a host of qualifying and friendly matches this year made sure the players were well-oiled.

"It's true that I got only 18 days to train the team, but we've worked hard in those days for this tournament which is the most important one for this region. These players have been playing together for quite some time and they played so many matches this year that I think the lack of preparation time will not be that big of an issue," the UEFA A-licensed coach said during the official pre-tournament press conference.

Skipper Mamunul Islam felt the matches they played against teams like Australia and Jordan in the World Cup  qualifiers this year have given them confidence of taking on any side.

"Afghanistan are undoubtedly a good side and they have better individual players. But we are not bad either; they play power football while we play more tactical football," opined the midfielder.

Bangladesh, who held a tactical training session yesterday afternoon following two days of recovery sessions since arriving at the Kerala capital, thankfully have had no injury issues thus far. However, defensive midfielder Jamal Hossain Bhuiyan is all but ruled out of Thursday's Afghanistan fixture as he has not yet recovered enough to be match-fit, with either Monaem Khan Raju or Atiqur Rahman Meshu likely to take his place.