Booters play warm-up match in Oman today

Head coach Jamie Day is looking forward to getting testing his charges again as the Bangladesh national team take on Muscat Club in their lone warm-up match today ahead of Thursday’s World Cup qualifying fixture against hosts Oman.

The match will get underway at 6:00pm (BST).

After their fearless fight against India on October 15 in Kolkata, the players were given rest for more than two weeks even though majority of the players returned to club duty for the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Chattogram last month. 

Most of the players except for the Abahani players played at least three matches in that tournament, with Jamal Bhuiyan, Rahmat Mia, Yeasin Arafat, Arifur Rahman and Riyadul Hasan playing five matches.

The Bangladesh coach is now looking forward to gelling the players again through today’s warm-up match against Muscat Club, who are currently in seventh position in their domestic league with three wins, two defeats and a draw.

“Most of the players played in Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, so it is more than just playing together again,” Day told The Daily Star over phone yesterday adding that he is not concerned about the fitness of the players.

“It is not a fitness issue now. They are not going to get any fitter than they are. Abahani players needed rest which was good. The rest of the players played in the Sheikh Kamal tournament, so I am happy,” said Day, who joined the team on Monday following his vacation.

The English coach will get some idea about the standard of Omani football after today’s match, but he believes the match against Oman will be very tough.

“Oman match will be a tough one. They are the second-best team in this group and are expected to qualify,” Day said. “It will just get the players playing again after being with club teams.”

The coach will use 22 of his players, giving each player at least 45 minutes.

After reaching Oman on Monday, the team had their first training session where the focus was one keeping possession and finishing before playing a game among the ranks on Tuesday. They were scheduled to have their second training session yesterday afternoon.