Wounded Bangladesh up against Palestine again

Smarting from a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Palestine in Kuwait, Bangladesh are hoping against hope to secure some points in their home leg match of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against the same opponents at the Bashundhara Kings Arena tomorrow.

The match will kick off at 3:30 pm and T Sports will telecast the match live.

On March 21, Bangladesh suffered their biggest ever defeat against Palestine which was also their sixth straight loss against the opponents after the first meeting between the two sides had ended in a 1-1 draw in 2006 in the AFC Challenge Cup in Dhaka.

Bangladesh had managed to keep a clean sheet till the 42nd minute of the match but conceded twice in space of four minutes to go into half-time trailing 2-0.

Coach Javier Cabrera's charges couldn't keep up in the second half against the technically and physically superior Palestine team, who are ranked 97th in the FIFA rankings, and conceded three more goals without giving any back.

"We need to think forward and that's why we can't be negative. We need to be realistic and responsible. We lost 5-0 but we can do better [tomorrow]," Cabrera told the reporters at a pre-match conference at the Kings Arena today.

The Men in Red and Green are yet to suffer a defeat at the Kings Arena, having drawn twice against Afghanistan, once against Lebanon and won against Maldives in the four international matches held at the venue so far.

Cabrera hoped that playing in front of the home crowd will inspire his charges to overcome the Palestinians.

"We know how important it is going be for us to play in front of our people. We expect a very good atmosphere once again at the Kings arena where we still remain unbeaten.

"The result of the first match was the disappointing for many people but also that there were many positives in the first half. We were able to compete at a very high level. Going through that experience, we now need to focus and adjust and give something good for people and hopefully get some points."

The match will be played on Bangladesh's Independence Day and captain Jamal Bhuiyan wanted to do something special against Palestine to mark the day.

"It is a special day for Bangladeshi people and we want to give a gift to them. Of course, we want to win it," said Jamal.

Since their first encounter in 2006, Palestine have taken on Bangladesh in Bangladesh twice more in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup and handed the home side identical 2-0 defeats on both occasions.

Palestine coach Makram Daboub said that they are here to earn three more points against Bangladesh and take another step in fulfilling their goal of securing a berth in the third round.

"Coming here to play against an improving Bangladesh is not an easy job and this match will be a bit difficult. But we are here to win the match to secure three points because our goal is to qualify for the third round of World Cup Qualifiers."