‘Oman away would be the toughest’
Bangladesh coach Jamie Day said he expects the matches away to Oman to be tougher than the previous matches in their qualifying campaign of the World Cup.
Bangladesh, who are currently bottom of Group E with a single point from three matches, face Oman, in second position behind Qatar, in Muscat on Thursday.
Although Bangladesh lost 1-0 against Afghanistan away from home and 2-0 against Qatar at home before holding India to a 1-1 draw in Kolkata, the team performed beyond expectations, especially in the last two matches.
The English coach feels his charges will need to put up a similar performance if they are to earn a draw against the Middle Eastern nation.
“I would be happy with a point but I think it’s extremely tough. It’s the toughest game we will have so far and to keep asking our players to play above their standard every game is also a big ask,” the coach said when asked of his thoughts regarding the game against Oman.
Bangladesh have been undergoing a training camp in Muscat for the last one week and they won the only warm-up game against Muscat Club 3-1 a few days ago. The Bangladesh coach believes Oman will be a learning experience for his young defensive lineup.
“Big challenge but all good experience for the younger players,” the coach said. “We have to defend like we did the last game [against India].”
Despite creating a number of scoring chances against both Qatar and India, Day’s charges have only one goal from three games, courtesy of a first-half header from Saad Uddin against India.
The coach felt they should be more clinical in front of goal and not let these opportunities go begging. “We have been creating chances which is positive, just need to try and convert more,” Day said.
The coach hinted that he was not looking to tinker too much with his game plan or line-up, but did not rule out the possibility of changes, especially in defence, with fit-again centre-back Tutul Hossain Badsha getting more gametime than the rest during the lone practice match and young full-back Yeasin Arafat joining the squad following the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers campaign, where he scored two goals.
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