Wary of Palestine's prowess, Bangladesh hope for ‘tight fight’

Bangladesh will have their work cut out as they face Palestine, a team currently 86 places higher in FIFA rankings, in a World Cup Qualifiers Group I fixture at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium in Kuwait tonight. The match will kick off at 12:30am (Bangladesh Standard time). 

The men in red and green, ranked a lowly 183, have recently raised the bar of expectations by displaying a better show against relatively superior sides such as Maldives, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

In the World Cup Qualifiers so far, despite losing 7-0 to Australia, Bangladesh boosted their morale with a come-from-behind 1-1 draw at home against Lebanon four months ago. However, given Palestine's performance in the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year, Bangladesh have little cause for optimism.

Palestine, featuring players who ply their trades in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Malaysia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Thailand and Belgium clubs, created history in the Asian Cup as the Middle East side registered their maiden entry in the competition's round of 16 before being narrowly beaten by eventual champions Qatar in the next hurdle.

Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera is wary of Palestine, especially after their Asian Cup show.

"If you followed Palestine in the last Asian Cup, you have seen they are a very strong team... They also fought very hard against Australia to lose only 1-0 in their first game of [World Cup] Qualifiers… Physically they are at a very high level and we hope that we will be able to minimize the difference and hopefully tomorrow [today] will be a very tight fight," said the 39-year-old Spaniard.

With wind in their sails, Palestine will be eager to come hard at Bangladesh to improve their chances of progressing to the third round by finishing as one of the group's top two teams. On the other hand, Bangladesh, in order to keep their qualification hopes alive, would be content to repeat the result of their inaugural fixture against Palestine: a 1-1 stalemate in 2006.

"Of course, we know Palestine are a very strong side and played well in the Asian Cup. We know they are one of the stronger teams in our group. We have to take this match very seriously, otherwise we will face a huge problem," captain Jamal Bhuiyan said yesterday, courtesy of an audio message sent by Bangladesh Football Federation.

"The coach has already warned me that they are very physical, strong and powerful, so for us it is about going hard and it is all about small details. Of course, we have to avoid [giving away] crosses, set pieces because 95 percent of their players are above 6 feet, I think.

"We must stick to our game plan... and do what the coach is saying and of course, avoid them entering our penalty box," Jamal added.
As most underdogs often operate, Bangladesh will look to capitalize on the counter to clinch their maiden win over Palestine, and their main weapon in this regard will be winger Rakib Hossain, with forward Sheikh Morsalin – who struck the equaliser against Lebanon in Dhaka -- out injured.