Sabina & Co up against vastly superior Chinese Taipei

Bangladesh women's football team will get a chance to test their improvements when they take on Chinese Taipei in the first of a two-match FIFA international friendly fixture at the Kings Arena on Friday.   

The match will begin at 5:45 pm. 

Since their 2022 SAFF Championship triumph, Bangladesh have played seven international matches of which they have recorded two victories against Singapore.

The women in red and green drew three against Nepal and lost one each against Japan and Vietnam.

After a four-month gap, Bangladesh are now up a much stronger Chinese Taipei, ranked 100 places above the hosts. 

Chinese Taipei participated in the FIFA Women's World Cup once and currently are ranked 40 in contrast to Bangladesh who are placed 140. 

Bangladesh coach Peter Butler will be eager to compare their standards against the visitors who thumped Macao 16-0 and lost 3-0 to powerhouse Australia last year.

"We want to keep up consistent performances and maintain the levels we have shown in the past friendlies," Bangladesh captain Sabina said at the pre-match press conference at BFF House on Thursday.

"Against Chinese Taipei, we want to see where our own standards are because we have not played international matches for a long time. 

"You know there is a big difference when you've trained for long a time without playing competitive matches and then suddenly you have to play. So there is also a question about how organised we can be in our performance, especially after coming into an international match seven to eight months later.

English coach Peter Butler said he anticipates a challenging encounter but pointed out that it would be a great opportunity for his troops to test their mettle against a strong side.  

A lot of talents and good young players have come from Under-16, and U-19 teams to the national side, so it's a mixed group. The girls have been really good. Sometimes, the girls pick things a lot quicker than the boys," Butler said. 

"Chinese Taipei is a full-time group. They are well settled, hard-working and very organised. It will be a very tough game but it would be a challenge and great opportunity for our girls too," said Butler.

Butler's counterpart Chan Hiu Ming said that they wanted to win the match as well as analyse the performance of his team which is in a rebuilding phase and has a host of new faces.  

"I have watched Bangladesh games at Asiad because we also participated. We are ahead in FIFA rankings but we have to be humble because of the away condition. We are not used to playing in very humid environments. Rankings don't determine the winner, so I respect the Bangladesh team.

"Chinese Taipei developed women's football a long time ago but a lot of other Asian countries also developed very fast. We are better focused on our team. We selected a few young players after Asiad and are preparing them for the future. We want to win the match, at the same time I want to check and analyse the performance," said Chan Hiu Ming.