‘We still need to work on the system’

Bangladesh football team are set to fly out for Qatar today to take part in next month's World Cup and Asia Cup Qualifiers following a fighting display against Sheikh Jamal DC in the sole practice match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Having lost the home advantage earlier, the failure to avail overseas training facilities added insult to injury. Thus, the boys in red and green arrive at Qatar with a significantly lower preparation compared to opponents India and Afghanistan, who have been training in Qatar and United Arab Emirates respectively after ensuring every possible facilities including practice matches against different sides.

Hours before the practice match, Bangladesh coach Jamie Day told the Daily Star about the lack of preparation which kept his charges in a gloomy, disadvantageous state so far.

"It was a match we desperately needed and I want to thank Manik (Shafiqul Islam Manik) and Sheikh Jamal players for agreeing to play. It was not about the scoreline but rather to see the system in which we approached, and still need to work on it in the following days," Day said in a video message after the closed-door practice match.

During the only training match, the troupes of Day faced an uphill battle against Sheikh Jamal in which the national side had to come from two goals behind to play out a 2-2 draw, which became somewhat of a mini morale booster for the booters.

Gambian forward Sulayman Sillah gave Sheikh Jamal a lead before the national team conceded an own goal in the second half to go 2-0 down. However, a couple of strikes from right-back Yeasin Arafat and Mehedi Hasan Royal ensured that the blues left the field with some confidence.

It was learnt that Jamie played almost two different squads in two halves to test all players, with key players like Bishwanath Gosh and Saad Uddin already being ruled out while Mohammad Ibrahim and Mahbubur Rahman Sufil still suffers from covid-19.

The blues will begin their training in Qatar soon after they get the Covid-19 test results as Bangladesh are scheduled to get their campaign off to a start by taking on Afghanistan on June 3 before facing India on June 7, followed by Oman on June 15.