Dhaka, December 23: Bangladesh opens their SAFF Championship campaign against defending champions Afghanistan at the Sports Hub Trivandrum Stadium, Kerela India at 7:00 pm BST on Thursday.

Bangladesh players tuned up for the tough encounter with a one and half hour practice session on Wednesday.

Bangladesh captain-Mamunul Islam Mamun said his team are ready for the crucial match. “Tomorrow we will try to play the best to win the match, Our team are ready, Afghanistan is a good team and we are taking it very seriously.Our first target is to reach the semifinals, a win in the First match will make our journey easy” said Mamun.

Bangladesh head coach Maruful Haque focused on the full three points. “We are ready to play and try to win the 3 points from the match ,Every body is physically & mentally well & strong, We came here because of the championship” said Maruf.

The first game against Bangladesh is the most important game for Afghanistan, according to Head Coach Peter Segrt, when asked about his team’s chances in this year’s edition of SAFF Suzuki Cup.

“We have tried to do our best in training” he said, “We all respect each other. We respect all opponents. It is too early to talk about chances” stressed Segrt.