Sports Reporter :
Bangladesh Football team will take on Sri Lanka in their first match of the SAFF Championship at the National Football Stadium in Male, the capital city of Maldives today. The match will begin at 5.00pm (BST). Private satellite sports channel T Sports will telecast the match live from the arena. Before today’s match, Bangladesh faced Sri Lanka 16 times. Of them, Bangladesh won 10 matches, while Sri Lanka registered four victories and two matches ended in draws. Bangladesh emerged champions in this prestigious football competition in 2003. Besides, the red-and-green outfit reached final in 1999 in India and 2005 in Pakistan. But Bangladesh lost to India in both finals. Bangladesh played in the semi-finals for two times. Bangladesh were ousted from the tournament in the first phase for six times. They could not move in the second round in the last four editions.
Senior footballer Sohel Rana could not take part in the opening match as he has been suffering from fever. Newly appointed Head Coach of Bangladesh Football team Oscar Bruzon said, ” We have alternative of Sohel Rana.”
Oscar wants to follow 4-3-3 formation. Captain of Bangladesh team Jamal Bhuiyan said, ” Sohel Rana is a good footballer. But we have such kind of footballer, who will be the appropriate replacement of Sohel Rana.” Oscar may select Saad Uddin as the replacement of Sohel Rana. Oscar will announce the final squad today.
Head Coach of Sri Lanka Football team Amir Alagic said, ” We have some youngsters. We could not take a satisfactory preparation. We could not play any warm-up match. On the other hand, Bangladesh team were engaged in international football matches. We are taking preparation marking the FIFA World Cup Football 2026. I hope my booters will perform better brand of football in future.”
