PETALING JAYA: The Bengal Tigers of Bangladesh will make themselves feel at home in the Harimau Malaya’s den in their final Group E game of the Asian Cup qualifiers.
Ranked 188th in the world, the minnows have nothing to lose as the pressure is all on Malaysia to meet their fans’ expectations to qualify for the prestigious tournament.
Bangladesh’s Spanish coach Javier Cabrera said his charges are just out to show that they can perform beyond what their world ranking suggests.
“For us, playing in front of a packed stadium is an extra motivation. And to take on a team aiming for something big is the perfect moment to show that we can compete with anyone,” said Cabrera at the pre-match press conference.
“The pressure’s all on Malaysia, they are higher ranked and this is their best chance to reach the Asian Cup.
“We’ve been performing in a very positive way even though we’ve lost to Bahrain (0-2) and Turkmenistan (1-2). We deserve more and want to give our supporters something to cheer.”
The Bangladeshis can’t be taken lightly as they have shown good organisation and the ability to trouble teams with their work rate and energy.
They may not be as technically impressive as the other teams in the group but there is solidarity among the players to go the extra mile against stronger opposition.
Bangladesh goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico has also been outstanding in their last two matches, making some eye-catching saves.
Captain and midfielder Jamal Bhuyan said they have a game plan to frustrate Malaysia and would not be affected by the passionate home crowd.
“Malaysia is kind of similar to Indonesia (Bangladesh held them 0-0 in a friendly before flying to Kuala Lumpur last week). We have a plan to deal with them,” he said.
“As for the crowd, we won’t be focusing on them. Plus, we don’t understand Malay, so I don’t see a problem with crowd pressure.”
