Hoping for a better show
The Bangladesh national football team will be hoping for an improved performance in today's FIFA international friendly against hosts Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The match is scheduled to get underway at 8:45pm local time (6:45pm Bangladesh time).
Bangladesh suffered a disappointing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Thailand in their first FIFA friendly this week but Bangladesh coach Saiful Bari Tuti believes his charges would not produce another disappointing result against Malaysia, who are not as strong as Thailand.
“We watched footage of the friendly between Malaysia and Thailand and it seemed us that the Malaysian players are not as skilled as the Thai players. So I think we have good opportunity to put up a better performance against Malaysia than in the first match against Thailand,†said Titu on the verge of leaving Thailand yesterday afternoon for Malaysia.
Titu admitted that they could not launch any attacks against Thailand and that the players broke down after conceding three goals in the first 19 minutes. As such the first 15 minutes against Malaysia would also be crucial for them.
The coach hinted that he would change his formation against Malaysia to switch to 4-5-1 from a defensive 5-3-2 in an effort to control the midfield and reduce pressure on the backline.
There might have a couple of changes in the starting eleven as goalkeeper Mamun Khan comes in place of Maksudur Rahman Mustaque. The booters had one-and-a-half hour practice session in the morning at the Beckham Football Academy in Bangkok.
In previous records, Bangladesh national team beat their Malaysian counterparts once in 1982 in New Delhi. They have suffered defeats five times.
Malaysia have played three international friendlies in the last two weeks. They lost to Thailand 2-0 and Vietnam 1-0 and played out a 1-1 draw against Hong Kong.
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