DHAKA, – Midfielder Manik Hossain Molla is hopeful to do something good in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Qatar next month.
“We all have an average fitness level after finishing the league… we have more time in hand and If we train better, we will do better in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers,” said Molla during the team’s first day training session at Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Bangladesh placed at bottom-ranked of Group E having one point from five matches and Bangladesh still have three matches to play in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. According to the fixtures, Bangladesh will play against Afghanistan, India and Oman on June 3, 7 and 15 respectively.
Despite standing at the bottom-ranked of the table, Jamal Bhuiyan and Co. are expecting something good from the remaining matches.
The Bangladesh Football Federation earlier picked up a 33-member preliminary squad for the Qatar mission and Molla thinks that those who performed well in the league, have been called in the squad.
“Look the coach picked those who perform well in the league …. any coach follows the league … the coach called only those who performed well in the league,” he added.
Molla said: “There is extreme hot weather in Qatar compared to Bangladesh. In that case we are trying to adapt to the conditions. We‘ll go to Qatar and have practice under the hot weather there, so it’ll be easier for us to adapt to the conditions in Qatar if we continue practicing in this local condition.
Striker Mahbubur Rahman Sufil said it has been beneficial for them for making practice under the scorching hot weather here because the weather is more hotter in Qatar than Bangladesh. So I think this weather is better for practice.
Replying to a question Sufil said that they are able to reach their desired goal in the yo-yo test and the coach is emphasizing more on fitness during the training session.
The Bangladesh team is expected to leave for Qatar on May 21 to play their remaining matches of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. According to the fixtures, Bangladesh will play against Afghanistan, India and Oman on June 3, 7 and 15 respectively.
