Booters to take on Cambodia on March 9

Bangladesh are all set to play a FIFA friendly against Cambodia in March, nearly five months after their last international match against Palestine during the Bangabandhu Gold Cup last October.

The men in red and green will depart for Cambodia on March 5 ahead of the match, which is scheduled to be held on March 9, national coach Jamie Day confirmed yesterday.

The ongoing Bangladesh Premier League will remain suspended for one month from March 6 to April 5 after the completion of its 10th round due to the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers, FIFA friendly window and the away fixture of the AFC Cup.

Day was looking forward to taking advantage of that break.

"We won't train [especially for the friendly] because the boys are with their respective clubs till March 5. But we will have a couple days of training in Cambodia," said Day, who seemed happy to get an international fixture ahead of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers, which are scheduled to take place in Bahrain between March 18 and 26.

Day also hinted that there may be some new faces in the squad as he has been keeping an eye on the players' performance in the league.

"I think there will be some new faces. I'll just see how everyone performs over the next few weeks and then I will decide on the squad," said Day, who is likely to fly to Qatar for a conditioning camp with the U-23 squad after returning from Cambodia.