Preview- Ilievski urges boys to show their character
Dhaka November 1: The group A qualifiers of the AFC U-19 Championship comes to an end Wednesday with the high profile match between Saudi Arabia and Iraq at 4:00 pm on Wednesday. In the second match of the day hosts Bangladesh faces Oman at 7:00 pm.
Both Saudi Arabai and Iraq had qualified for the final round with three successive wins and the match will decide the group championship. Bangladesh and Omam both have lost two of their three matches and will be looking for a consolation win.
Bangladesh coach Nikola Ilievski has urged his boys to show their character. “After two tough matches the boys are more battle hardened, they will try their best to stamp the authority with a teamwork based performance” said the Macedonian.
“Definitely Oman is a strong team but they are not in the same club of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, with a teamwork based game I hope the boys will be doing better than the previous two matches” said Ilievski.
Bangladesh team have no serious injury and defender Topu Barman is all set to return after missing the last match due to two yellow card suspension.
Oman coach Abdul Aziz Semida felt he had nothing to lose. “We want to wrap the campaign with a win, we are aware that the hosts will be presenting a tough challenge” said Semida.
Saudi coach Khalid Al Koroni expressed confidence of winning the match. “We arrived here to win the group and is one match away from our goal, we have already qualified for the finals and the players are now free from any pressure, so it is the time to display the best against a formidable opponent” said the Saudi coach.
Iraqi coach Hakeem Shakir acknowledged the prowess of Saudi Arabia. “They are a tough opponent and has adapted the appropriate tactics in the last three matches, we however will not change our normal approach, we will be firing all cylinders to ensure a win and top the group” said Shakeer.
Shakeer admitted that he will be missing Ali Adnan Kadhim one of his key players in the crucial tie. “Yes we will miss him but we have other resources in our arsenal”