A revitalised Bangladesh are set to begin their SAFF Championship campaign with hopes of a winning start in their opening match against a new-look new-look Sri Lanka at the National Football Stadium in Male today.

The match will get underway at 5:00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time) before the second game between Maldives and Nepal at the same venue.

Maldives is hosting the regional football extravaganza by itself for the first time although they had been co-hosts with Sri Lanka in 2008. They celebrated that occasion by lifting the maiden trophy before making doubling their titles in the last edition in Dhaka in 2018.

Interestingly, the 13th edition of the tournament is going to be held in a round-robin format for just the second time in the tournament's 28-year history after Bhutan decided not to take part citing the Covid-19 pandemic. The only other time was during the inaugural edition held in 1993 with the participation of only four teams -- seven-time champions India, one-time champion Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.

The appointment of interim coach Oscar Bruzon has brought an attacking vibe to the Bangladesh team, who are now looking to come out of the defensive shell they maintained under former coach Jamie Day. The team's adaptation to the new playing style can be gauged in their opening match against Sri Lanka although Bangladesh's record in the last four iterations of the SAFF Championship has been poor, with elimination from the group stages each time.

"We had a week of preparation and I think we have the maximum level of confidence to make a winning start to this beautiful SAFF Championship. Talking about playing the final is not reality because we are the second-bottom team in the tournament in terms of FIFA ranking. Our initial rivals tomorrow are Sri Lanka and we are looking forward to a good start in the opening match," Bangladesh coach Oscar Bruzon said at the pre-match conference. "I want to feel that our team is ranked top 10 in the world. That feeling does not coming from me. It is felt among all players.'

Captain Jamal Bhuiyan echoed Brunzon's sentiments.

"We want to start the tournament in a positive way and play 90 minutes of possession football. I hope we can do very well against Sri Lanka. The main goal is to get three points tomorrow [Friday]," Jamal said.

Like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have also been going through the lean patch and seeking greener pastures under the guidance of Bosnia-born Australian Amir Alagic, who shrugged off the pressure by saying that he wants the side to show improvement following a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of South Korea in a World Cup qualifier in June.

However, Sri Lanka captain Sujan Perera is eager to make a good start by beating Bangladesh in the opening match.

"We haven't come here for a vacation, we came to play football and do our best. The Bangladesh game will be a final for us because every game is a final. It is like a big opportunity," Sujan said at the pre-tournament press conference yesterday.

Bangladesh have never lost to Sri Lanka in the SAFF Championship, beating the Islanders 1-0 in 2008 and 2-1 in 2009. The men in red and green are also ahead of Sri Lanka in terms of the head-to-head count, with 11 wins, two draws and four losses.