Booters up against it
Winless Bangladesh will look for a consolation win in the Yunnan International Football Tournament when they take on Chinese provincial side, Hebei, in their last group match at the Mang Shi City Stadium today.
With top three teams from the group to advance to the knock-out stages, China's Lijiang and Hebei are in advantageous position as they have four points each while Myanmar have three points.
Bangladesh, who sit at the bottom of the group with no pints from two matches, have an outside chance to advance to the knockout stages, depending on a win and the other result of the day going their way.
Bangladesh have no alternative but to beat Hebei with at least two-goal margin if they want to topple Myanmar, who also must lose against Lijiang. Both matches will get underway at same time.
Following a 0-4 home defeat against Australia, the charges of Fabio Lopez continued to show their dismal performance by losing against Myanmar 3-2 and Lijiang 2-1. And it is going to be tough ask for Bangladesh to beat Hebei, who played out a 2-2 draw with Lijiang and beat Myanmar 1-0.
Captain Mamunul Islam is hoping against hope about making it through.
“If we can play better than what we played against Lijiang, we can expect full three points as we are determined to put our best tomorrow [Tuesday],” Mamunul was said in an audio clip sent by the Bangladesh Football Federation.
Lopez admitted that he is still experimenting with the side to find the right combination for the upcoming SAFF Championship in December.
“Our tournament is going well even though the results are not positive. Don't worry about the results because the results are not showing the real picture and we are alert about it,” Lopez said. “I am trying some new formations and new tactics for the SAFF tournament.”
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