Bhutan ready to spoil Bangladesh’s party

Bangladesh's Spanish coach Javier Cabrera was more impressed with the way Bhutan played in their SAFF Championship Group B game against Maldives.

The charges of Cabrera, who have already overcome the Maldives hurdle -- beating them for the first time in the regional football extravaganza in 20 years -- now face the challenge of beating Bhutan in order to progress to the semis, the booters' tournament objective.  

Bhutan are at the bottom of the four-team group with two back-to-back defeats -- against Maldives and Lebanon. However, despite suffering defeats in both their group matches, Bhutan are still dreaming of playing in the semifinals. For that, they need to beat Bangladesh in the final group game and hope for Lebanon to beat Maldives as that will see three teams -- Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives -- with equal three points.

"The tournament is still not over for us. We want all three points in the last match [against Bangladesh]. That will be our determination and focus," said Bhutan coach Pema after their 4-1 defeat to Lebanon last night.

"Bangladesh are not an easy opponent to beat because in our group [B], everyone is good and tough. Let's see what happens because we don't want to lose hope. At least we will give hundred per cent against Bangladesh and that's all," added the Bhutan coach.

Bhutan replied after conceding four against Lebanon but coach Pema was apparently not happy with the penalty miss by Chencho Gyeltshen.

Asked how to assess Bangladesh after two matches, Pema said "Bangladesh are not bad, they are also a good side. However, I think their defense is the main strength of Bangladesh."

Bhutan have never played the final of the SAFF Championship. Playing a total of 24 matches in the tournament, Bhutan managed only one win and a draw.

Their only win came against Afghanistan in the 2008 SAFF Championship. They drew against Bangladesh in that edition and progressed to the semifinals for the first time.

So far, Bangladesh played 13 matches against Bhutan, losing only one of those encounters. A 3-1 win for Bhutan against Bangladesh came during the pre-qualifiers of the AFC Asian Cup in 2016.