Cabrera welcomes Australia challenge

Bangladesh head coach Javier Cabrera welcomes the challenge of facing Australia in the opening match of their FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign and believes his team can bring home a 'positive experience' from their trip down under.

Cabrera's charges are scheduled to leave for Australia tonight ahead of their Group I match against the hosts in Melbourne on November 16.

Australia, who have competed in all editions of the World Cup since 2006 and played in the round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup, dominated Bangladesh in their two previous meetings, winning by 5-0 and 4-0.

Having to face Australia in the first match of their qualifiers campaign is a daunting prospect for Bangladesh as a thrashing against the Socceroos could deflate the momentum the Jamal Bhuiyan-led side has built up in the last few months.

But Cabrera viewed the match as a great chance for his team on their path to elevating themselves to the next level.

"It is a great opportunity for us to go to the next level. We are very positive and optimistic of the challenge we have in front of us. It is a great opportunity to improve as a team and as individuals," Cabrera said at a press conference in the Bashundhara Kings arena yesterday.

After the match against Australia, Bangladesh will then host Lebanon in Dhaka on November 21.

The Spanish coach believes that a good showing against Australia, regardless of the outcome, would put Bangladesh in a good position mentally for their match against Lebanon.

"We are pretty sure we can do well in Australia and bring a positive experience to Bangladesh and then we will face Lebanon at home…There is a positive and good energy around the national team and we are hoping we can achieve something important," said the 39-year-old coach.

"I think we should not become obsessed with the result. As I said before, it is a great opportunity for us and a great achievement as what we did before gave us the opportunity to play in such a huge context," he added.

Cabrera also wanted his players to focus on themselves and take the field with the same positive approach that helped them knock off the Maldives in the pre-qualifiers.

"We should not put any extra pressure on ourselves. I think more than ever we need to be ourselves. We should not change our approach.

"We have to make sure we are a better team collectively and individually when we come back from Australia and that will allow us to reduce the gap with Lebanon and Palestine," said Cabrera.