German-heavy Afghanistan

Bolstered by foreign-based players Afghanistan are looking forward to carrying their performance in Laos to Tuesday's international friendly against Bangladesh which is being arranged as part of preparation for both teams' two World Cup and the Asian Cup qualifiers later this month.

SAFF champions Afghanistan under the supervision of German coaching staff came here on Saturday to play Bangladesh in the lone friendly after notching up a 2-0 win over hosts Laos.

For the Afghans, who had a one-week training in Bahrain, the Bangladesh match will be their last warm-up before facing Syria in their first qualifying match of the World Cup and Asian Cup E Group that also features Japan, Singapore and Cambodia.

After seven key players of Afghanistan resigned recently, their new German coach Slaven Skeledzic did well to reorganise the squad which is comprised mostly of foreign-based players (10 from Germany, three from Holland, one each from Denmark, USA and Vietnam) and only five are from the domestic league of Kabul.

"We have a new team and new philosophy. We want to practise against Bangladesh. The result is not my concern because we want to practise our philosophy and want to prepare well for the first game of the World Cup Qualifiers against Syria on June 11 in Iran. That's why we are here," said Skeledzic before the start of the team's first training session at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club ground yesterday.

The 43-year-old coach, however, hoped to carry their winning run from Laos to Bangladesh before leaving here on June 4. He also praised some of the Bangladeshi players after watching the match against Singapore on Saturday.

"I saw Bangladesh playing against Singapore and they were very organised and had some chances. I think the match should have been a draw but they lost. I think there are some good players like number 10 [Hemanta Vincent], number 14 [actually 24, Jewel Rana] and number 6 [Jamal Bhuiyan]. It will be a hard game for us [on Tuesday]. We must have a good day and it will be better for us if we win," said the German, who signed a five-year contract with the war-ravaged country in February.

Asked about what Afghanistan's strong point is, the former FSV Frankfurt youth side coach said: "Our strong point is that we are a team like Germany. We stay together and can plan quickly how to win the match."

During the match between Bangladesh and Singapore, the players from both sides struggled in scorching heat but Skeledzic said that it won't be a problem for his side.