Bangladesh wants a consolation win to end their Asian Cup qualifying campaign. They will face Singapore in their final match tomorrow. Head coach Javier Cabrera spoke about this in the pre match press conference in Singapore.
The team has played five matches so far. They have collected five points. Bangladesh can no longer qualify for the Asian Cup. Still, the coach wants a strong finish. A win will take them to eight points. He said, “This is a very important match for us. We have performed very well here but probably got fewer points than we expected. So we want a good finish. We want to show a strong performance tomorrow and fight for the three points.”
Cabrera also spoke about the importance of ending well. He said, “The big thing is the responsibility to achieve something important tomorrow. We have the chance to finish with eight points and get seven points from the last three matches. That really excites me. The positive side is that the team is clearly improving and tomorrow is another chance to show that.”
Bangladesh lost the earlier match against Singapore 2-1 in Dhaka. The coach reflected on that game. He said, “The first match was very competitive. We started very well but somehow lost energy and in the middle of the match Singapore used those chances very well. They took advantage of our two mistakes and won the match. But if you remember, in the last 20-30 minutes we had many chances to get at least one point. So we expect at least the same level of competition tomorrow. We know what is expected from us. We want to fight hard at the same level as the first match.”
Singapore have already qualified from Group C. They will play at home again. Cabrera spoke about their strength. He said, “I think the current Singapore coach is continuing the work of Japanese coach Ogura. You can see many of the same ideas and the same players playing in a similar way. I think it is a very interesting opportunity for him and a great decision by the federation. Since that decision, they have been very successful. Congratulations to them and the coach because they deserve it. They are playing very positive football and have qualified for the final round.”
