Interim Bangladesh coach Saiful Bari Titu said on Tuesday that he will continue the coaching philosophy instilled over the last one-and-a-half years by outgoing coach Lodewijk de Kruif when his team will play two FIFA friendlies against Sri Lanka this week.
Sri Lanka national football team arrived at Dhaka on Tuesday to play the matches, scheduled in Jessore and Rajshahi respectively on October 24 and 27.
I will not try to change that style overnight, rather I’ll continue to improve the process,’ Titu told reporters in a press conference at the BFF house before leaving for Jessore.
Titu trimmed the squad to 23 members by leaving out Aminur Rahman Sajib, Omar Faruk Babu, Samiul Islam, Mezbah Uddin and Atiqur Rahman Meshu from the initial 28-member squad, giving Topu Barman, Atikur Rahman Fahad, Yousuf Sifat and Rasel Mahmud Liton first-time opportunities in the senior side.
The 45-year old coach said he is in the dark about the Sri Lankan side but insisted that he has faith in his own squad.
‘We do not know much about these Sri Lankan players, most of whom are very young,’ said Titu.
‘The last time we played against them was four years ago in the AFC Challenge Cup in Colombo where we lost 3-0. But many things have changed since then and many new players have got into both these sides.
So we would like to win both of these games,’ said Titu, who is now in his third stint at the helm of the national team.
Sri Lanka’s Serbian coach Nikola Kavazovic said the only difference between the two teams could be the home advantage of Bangladesh.
‘Our team is young, but we are here to win both matches,’ he said.
The 39-year-old coach claimed that they have analysed each and every player of the Bangladesh team.
‘Since I was appointed as Sri Lanka coach in July this year, we played two friendly matches in Seychelles.
We won the first match and last the second one. It was a good preparation as Seychelles is much better than the South Asian teams,’ he said.
‘On paper, Sri Lanka has a slight edge over Bangladesh as they stand seven places above the hosts in the latest FIFA Rankings.
‘They also fared a little bit better than Bangladesh in the two previous SAFF Championships and won the latest meeting between the two sides (3-0 win in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup).
The overall head-to-head record however speaks for Bangladesh as they hold an 8-3 advantage over the islanders.
Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam believes that the recent upward journey of his side and the home advantage makes them favourites against Sri Lanka.
‘We are much stronger than we used to be a few years ago,’ said the Atletico de Kolkata midfielder.
‘We will be playing on home soil. The U-23 team played well recently and the senior players coming back into the side will make us even stronger,’ he said.
Both teams left for Jessore in the afternoon and will have their first practice session at the Jessore District Stadium.
-With New Age input
