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Boosted by the arrival of Sheffield United’s Hamza Choudhury, hosts Bangladesh will look to maintain their winning momentum when they take on Sri Lanka in their final Group A match of the SAFF Championship at the National Stadium today.
The match kicks off at 8:00pm. Earlier in the day, two former champions, India and Maldives, will face off at 3:30pm to decide their Group B fate, with Pakistan already having secured a semifinal berth.
Bangladesh have also booked their place in the last four with a match to spare, following the outcome of the Sri Lanka-Bhutan match. The hosts need just a point to finish top of Group A, while Sri Lanka also need a draw to advance to the semifinals.
However, both sides will have more than qualification at stake. Bangladesh will be keen to carry their winning form into the semifinals, while Sri Lanka cannot afford defeat, which could send them out of the competition.
Sri Lanka failed to reproduce the form they showed in the Asian Cup Qualifiers during their 2-2 draw against Bhutan on Sunday. But Bangladesh are not taking their opponents lightly, given Sri Lanka's record of beating Chinese Taipei twice and drawing 2-2 with Turkmenistan in last year's qualifiers.
“Sri Lanka are a very strong team. I think they have improved a lot over the last 12 months. But we have also improved. They had a difficult match against Bhutan, a team we beat.
“So we have confidence. The pressure is on them because they need to avoid defeat. We are looking forward to the match and are confident of winning,” Hamza told reporters prior to a training session at the Bashundhara Sports Complex yesterday.
Bangladesh will also be strengthened by the availability of England-based winger Farhaan Ali Wahid. Midfielder Sheikh Morsalin and defender Topu Barman are also in contention to return. Topu was ruled out of the Bhutan match at the last moment after picking up an injury despite being named in the starting XI.
However, makeshift striker Bishwanath Ghosh could miss out after sitting out Tuesday's training session with an injury.
Sri Lanka coach Abdullah Al Mutairi had described the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka encounter as potentially the best match in SAFF Championship history after his side's draw against Bhutan. Hamza, however, said Bangladesh would focus on their own performance rather than the opposition's assessment.
“I have watched both matches, Bangladesh against Bhutan and Sri Lanka against Bhutan. Our own team performance was really good, but we missed chances. We just need to put the final pieces together. We don't have to worry about other teams. We have to focus on ourselves and take each game as it comes,” he said.
FIFA Ranking: Bangladesh (182), Sri Lanka (184)
Head-to-head: Bangladesh won: 14, Sri Lanka won: 5, Draw: 1
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