Bangladesh wait for Hamza, hungry for goals

The mild disappointment at not winning by the desired margin against Bhutan has not entirely disappeared. Yet stepping into the Bashundhara Kings Arena, a completely different atmosphere was visible — relaxed, lively and confident.

After starting the SAFF Championship with a win, there is now no stiffness in the team's body language; with the Sri Lanka match ahead, the whole squad is in a mood of relief.

Yesterday afternoon, the atmosphere at the team's training session at the Kings Arena was different. In a light wintry mood, teammates teased and joked with each other from the start. The only exception in that cheerful mood was captain Tapu Barman.

The experienced defender has not yet fully got over the disappointment of being ruled out after getting injured while warming up just before the Bhutan match. He did not take part in the team's main training session with the ball at his feet.

After giving the players a recovery opportunity on Friday, coach Tomas Duli began drawing up plans yesterday to face the Lankans. And a big relief in the coach's plans is the return of Sheikh Morsalin.

The young forward, who sat in the dugout for the first match while suffering from fever, is now fully out of danger. Speaking to the media at the start of training, he hid nothing about the mood inside the team or his own return.

Ahead of the Sri Lanka match, Morsalin's voice carried lively confidence: "Since we started well, we won the first match. I hope we will win the second match too, Insha Allah. We are confident. Since we are playing on home soil, we have to win."

The forward was equally clear about his physical condition: "I did not have an injury, just a bit of fever... I recovered four or five days ago, Alhamdulillah. Now I am 100 percent fit. I hope that if I get a chance, I will do well."

Although there is regret at failing to make the scoreline bigger after missing one chance after another against Bhutan, Morsalin sees the matter differently. In his view, not winning by a big margin has not allowed complacency to settle inside the team.

Explaining the team's psychology, he said: "In one sense, I think it is good. Because many times, if you score too many goals, the body relaxes. So from that side... I mean, we are all still very hungry. We will be able to take that hunger into the next match."

On Wednesday, Duli's charges will face the Lankans in their second and last match in Group A. Before that, expatriate stars Hamza Chowdhury and Farhan Ali Wahid will join the team tomorrow, and Morsalin believes that will lift the team's confidence even higher.

Morsalin said: "We are certainly very hopeful about this. Hamza bhai and then Farhan — when they come, the spirit our team had will grow even more, Insha Allah."

Expatriate footballers Hamza Chowdhury and Farhan Ali are due to arrive in Dhaka on 9 November to join the SAFF Championship squad, and are expected to join the national team's training the same day. At the same time, there is a chance that experienced defender Tapu Barman will return against Sri Lanka after recovering from injury.

Defender Bishwanath Ghosh played as the number nine against Bhutan. Although coach Tomas Duli's gamble did not pay off, he has turned a tournament like the SAFF into a testing ground. Morsalin agrees with the coach: "Actually, our number nine problem has been there for a long time. Everyone knows that. But whenever we get a chance wherever... I have often played in midfield, in attacking midfield. As a player, wherever the coach gives me a chance, I will try to give my best. Bishwanath dada also tried that."

The equation for reaching the SAFF semi-finals could be simple for Bangladesh. Even without the hosts taking the field, their path to the last four will be decided by the result of the Sri Lanka–Bhutan match. If Bhutan fail to win the 8 p.m. encounter, Bangladesh will confirm their semi-final place from Group A with a match in hand.

Pakistan will take the field tomorrow in their fight to stay alive in the SAFF Championship. After losing their first match, the team faces a difficult equation. Having started the tournament with a 3-2 defeat against India, the match against the Maldives has become something of a do-or-die battle for Pakistan.