Day: Afghanistan defeat has no impact on our game

It was a rest day for the Bangladesh players Friday after a couple of practice matches against two Tajik League clubs Tuesday and Thursday in Dushanbe. 

The team are now looking forward to kicking off their Group E campaign in the World Cup and Asian Cup joint qualifiers against Afghanistan Tuesday. 

More information about Afghanistan is available now after they began their journey with a 6-0 defeat against Asian champion and 2022 World Cup host Qatar Thursday night. 

Dhaka Tribune chatted with Bangladesh head coach Jamie Day on whatsapp after the game.

Here are the excerpts:

Did you watch the game?

I watched myself and we showed players the clips of the game that are the keys.

Bangladesh improved their performance and drew in the second and last practice match 1-1 against CSKA Pomir in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe Thursday, prior to their 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asia Cup joint qualification match against Afghanistan Tuesday.https://t.co/IWrjqgXzQA

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 5, 2019

Can Bangladesh break this Afghanistan defence?

Well, if we don't we won't have a chance of winning.

How can they do that?

It's very difficult to assess because Qatar are a far greater team, they had great movement and speed in their attack.

Qatar are no doubt the strongest side in the group but still, did you expect Afghanistan to concede half a dozen goals?

Qatar are a far greater side than most in the group and some of the goals were very good play, so it's difficult to assess.

Should Bangladesh now be more worried when they play Qatar next?

No, I don't think anything changes, we will prepare no differently.

Bangladesh men’s national team began their 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asia Cup qualifiers preparation in Tajikistan with a 2-0 defeat against Tajik League giants FC Kuktosh in their first practice match at Hisor Stadium in Dushanbe on Tuesday.https://t.co/YA4rGfLvW7

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 3, 2019

Any player you may especially mention from Afghanistan team?

Midfield is very good.

Stuart Watkiss (assistant coach) also talked about three of their midfielders Bangladesh must be careful of…

Yes, very good players.

Alikhil Abassin, Husin Noor and Farshad Noor?

Noor, Husin, Haydary (Omran).

Bangladesh coach Jamie Day has finalized the 23-man squad ahead of their opening 2nd-round World Cup and Asian Cup joint qualification match against Afghanistan on September 10 as the team are all set to leave here for Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.https://t.co/L1OatdzKDB#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) August 31, 2019

What are the strong and weak areas you found in Afghanistan team?

That's for the players to know.

Defence?

They have a good team all round.

How will the strategy be like against Afghanistan?

We won't change much in how we have played recently. We are the underdogs in this group so we have to be prepared.

But we can't surely approach the same way we did against Laos recently, can we?

What approach did we use against Laos?

Defender Yeasin Arafat has been in the headlines recently after it was revealed that his club, Bangladesh Premier League outfit Saif Sporting set his release clause at Tk1 crore and 60 lakhs.https://t.co/uianoOOlPq#FOOTBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHFOOTBALL #BFF #YEASIN #ARAFAT

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 1, 2019

We didn't have to worry much about the opponent like we have to do against Afghanistan or India. As you said, we are underdog here…

These teams are much tougher so we won't be able to make mistakes and get away with them.

Don’t you think Afghanistan would be more serious against Bangladesh after their big defeat last night?

No, their defeat last night will have no impact on our game. They were playing a team far greater than them.

In the other game Thursday, Oman scored two late goals to beat India 2-1. What do you think about these two teams in the group?

Qatar, Oman and India are all greater in terms of ranking and ability of the players.