News How Should Nepal Approach Against Bangladesh ?
Sandesh Sigdel

Carrying a national dream and seeking to make history, Nepal will take the field against Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon in Male.

Nepal leads the table, tied on points with the Maldives, and has a better head-to-head record, having defeated them 1-0 on the first day of the tournament.

Nepal is coming off a heartbreaking loss to India, where they conceded late in the game. Nepal blew a chance to reach the final with a game to play last Sunday but will face Bangladesh with the same goal in mind. Almutairi’s tactics didn’t work out in all fairness as India dominated and got an important goal to keep their final hopes alive themselves.

Bangladesh is ranked 189th in the world, 21 places lower than Nepal, but it will not be as easy for Nepal as it appears on paper. Bangladesh are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Maldives, but they showed great tenacity against India, drawing with them with 10 men after easily defeating Sri Lanka on the first day of the tournament.

Oscar Bruzon, the interim coach of Bangladesh's national team, was appointed just before the tournament began while still managing the country's local heavyweights, the Bashundhara Kings. He had no time to acclimate to the rest of the squad or prepare for the tournament.

Despite being appointed on such short notice, the fact that the majority of this squad is made up of players from the club he manages locally has aided his cause. Oscar typically employs a 4-1-4-1 formation with their talismanic captain, Jamal Bhuyan, at the heart of their midfield.

They looked a little shaky tactically against the Maldives, and it cost them a 2-0 loss. The defenders were attempting to build from the back, but there were no midfielders dropping deep to receive passes, forcing them to play long with no positive outcome. They did, however, show great tenacity against the heavyweights India when they were reduced to ten men and equalized later on, while also keeping India at bay and holding them to a draw.

Bangladesh will need nothing less than a win against Nepal to make the final of the SAFF Championship. So one can expect them to go all guns blazing as anything less than three points mean they are headed home.

Nepal, without any doubt, must also be looking for all 3 points but a draw should also be enough to secure a place in the final. Against India, Nepal failed to create any goalscoring threat while also looking vulnerable at the back at times.

The performance overall was lacklustre but Almutairi is expected to turn things around when Nepal play Bangladesh tomorrow. Almutairi is expected to marshall his troops to play with an attacking approach with more ball control like he did against Sri Lanka.

The whole of Nepal will be watching the game against Bangladesh with high expectations. And the national team will be carrying a nation’s dream on its back.

All in all, this game is poised to be a mouth-watering tie.

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