Jamal & Co hungry for win over Nepal

Fresh from a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Cambodia, Bangladesh men's football team is looking forward to carrying the momentum to their second FIFA friendly of the week, against Nepal at Dasarath Rangasala in Kathmandu today. The match will kick off at 5:45pm (Bangladesh time).

The two teams will face each other for the first time since last year's SAFF Championship in Maldives, which ended in a 1-1 draw with the Himalayan nation progressing to the final at the expense of the men in red and green.

Bangladesh were not happy with the last-gasp penalty awarded to Nepal, but they will be hoping for a win, especially taking inspiration from the women's team's SAFF final victory over Nepal at the same venue last week.

"We are ready for tomorrow but we know it is Nepal's home ground. We have to respect the home team, who will have a good crowd to encourage them," captain Jamal Bhuyan said at a pre-match conference yesterday.

"A few days ago, our women's team made history here by becoming SAFF Women's Champions. The men's team also want to repeat that with a victory  and we are hungry for that," said the captain of Bangladesh, who won 13 out of 23 meetings between the two sides.

Nepal, 174th in FIFA ranking, have had the upper hand in terms of results against 192nd–ranked Bangladesh in recent past.