Singapore will look to cap off a successful Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday (Mar 31) on a positive note, as they aim to keep their unbeaten record (three wins, two draws) intact against a plucky Bangladesh side at the National Stadium.
The Bengal Tigers have taken four points in their last two qualifiers (1-1 v Hong Kong, 1-0 v India) and are unbeaten away from home.
Both sides are bullish about their chances of ending on a victory, with Bangladesh’s veteran midfielder Jamal Bhuyan hoping the support from the local Bengali community will give them the edge over the hosts.
During a training session at the Geylang practice field on Sunday (Mar 29) evening, players of the world no.181 side were swarmed by fans as they exited the team bus.
“We know there are a lot of Bengalis here, and whenever we go to countries where there are many Bengalis, we often see this kind of crowd, but of course, yesterday was very positive as it was just a normal training session.”
“In the past, it was mostly cricket, but now I would say football is the number one sport. Maybe some people will disagree with me, but especially over the last two years, it has been tremendous — the support, the hype, the fans.
“Wherever you go in Dhaka as a player, you can feel the love. And even when I go outside of Bangladesh, I can feel the love.
“As a player, I appreciate it a lot. And of course, with good results and performances, I hope this will continue.”
With tickets in the away end reportedly sold out and an expected 6,000 Bangladesh supporters set to turn up for what is a dead rubber, head coach Javier Cabrera said: “It’s very exciting and impressive to see the support we get in every match we play… We all feel very grateful, and it’s a real boost for the team, giving us extra motivation to win tomorrow.”
Lions head coach Gavin Lee is also expecting a strong turnout for his charges.
“We are looking forward to tomorrow to play in front of a big crowd,” Lee said, with the Lions boss confirming a clean bill of health across his 27-man squad.
“In Hong Kong, we played in a full stadium of red, but it wasn’t our red. (Tomorrow), We have a chance to play in our stadium with ‘our red’ backing us, supporting us… And that’s something that I think motivates a lot of players because how often do you get this kind of experience and opportunities?”
Bangladesh arrived in Singapore following a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to 103rd-ranked Vietnam in Hanoi last Thursday (Mar 26), while the Lions were scheduled to test themselves against European opposition in Dubai, taking on world No. 123 Faroe Islands.
However, the friendly was shelved due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with Lee hopeful that the disruption could yet prove a blessing in disguise.
“Ultimately, we had to pivot, and we went to a different principle in terms of our planning where we just want to spend more time together… Because we’re not preparing for a game, we can go deeper into certain things we want to work on as a team.”
