Hosts eye an emphatic display
Bangladesh under-19 coach Saiful Bari Titu expects Bhutan to play pressing football when the two sides meet in the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today. The hosts began their campaign with a 2-0 victory against Sri Lanka on Friday, but had to wait until the 67th minute of that match to break the deadlock against a side, which was defending deep with five men at the back. The Bangladesh coach wants to exploit the spaces created in the opposition’s defence as he expects more urgency in attack from the Bhutanese today.
“Sri Lanka played defensive football against us, but we expect little bit more pressing football from Bhutan,” said the coach prior to the team's practice session at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Ground yesterday. “We have to make sure that we dominate the game, dominate possession and create scoring chances as we want to win by a big margin.”
Winning by a big margin could be crucial to Bangladesh's cause as they are targeting one of the five best runners-up spots available for qualification for the 16-team final round. With Uzbekistan considered favourites to top Group A, a belief reinforced by the Uzbeks’ 7-0 drubbing of Bhutan on the opening day, Bangladesh will be looking to get maximum points from the first two matches, with a healthy positive goal advantage. Titu, though, feels his forwards would have to be more penetrative in the attacking third and more accurate in front of goal for that target to be achieved.
“We should have scored three or four goals in the last game. We have to learn how to overcome the pressure and score. This is a problem which dogs not only this team, but also the senior team,” said the former national midfielder.
Bangladesh had beaten Bhutan 2-0 in their last meeting in SAFF U-19 Championship in Nepal this August, and the two players who scored in that fixture -- Rohit Sarker and Mannaf Rabbi -- are expected to start in attack alongside Mohammad Ibrahim.
Rabbi, who also scored the opening goal against Sri Lanka on Friday, said they cannot afford to waste chances. “Even though we won 2-0 against Bhutan in SAFF Championship, we had squandered many chances. This is something we should be careful about tomorrow. I believe this team is stronger than the one we had in Nepal,” said the striker, who plies his trade with Rahmatganj MFS in the Bangladesh Premier League.
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