Sabbir Hossain :Bangladesh National Football team will take on Malaysia Football team today in the final of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament at the Bangbandhu National Stadium. The high-voltage match kicks-off at 5.00 pm. Private satellite channel Channel 9 will telecast the match live from the big bowl.Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to witness the final as the chief guest and give away the prizes among the winners.Finance Minister AMA Muhith will also be present in the final as the special guest.Besides, President of South Asian Football Federation and President of Bangladesh Football Federation Kazi Salahuddin, BOA Secretary General Syed Shahed Reza and other BFF officials are expected to witness the grand final.Bangladesh reached the final when they beat Thailand by a solitary goal in the second semi-final at the same venue on February 6.On the other hand, Malaysia got the tickets of the final when they registered a lone-goal victory over Singapore in the first semi-final at the Sylhet District Stadium on February 5.Malaysia emerged the Group A champions with maximum six points in two matches and stormed into the semi-final while Bangladesh confirmed their semifinal berth when they became runners-up bagging three points from their two Group A matches.It may be mentioned that Bangladesh lost to Malaysia 1-0 in their Group A clash at the Sylhet District Stadium on January 29.Captain of Bangladesh National Football team Mamunul Islam said, “We want to win the final match of Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament and we want to dedicate the championship title to the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the independence of our country.”Mamunul said, ” Though we had a slow start in this event but we qualified for the final showing a better brand of football in the semi-final and beat Thailand and it is good for the spectators of the home side that they will find their team in the final.When asked if they are thinking in terms of taking revenge as they lost their first match, Mamun, the skipper of red and green out-fit said, “Not all, we are not thinking of revenge.We are happy that we have made to the final in a tourney which is being played after the gap of 15 years and now our only intention is to lift the cherished title.”Captain of Malaysia team Naziul Naim said, “The final will be very tough for both side as the final is always a challenging and pressure game.”Answer to a question he replied that they didn’t feel any pressure of playing in front of big crowds as each single player of his team was ready to give their best in title-deciding match.
