'We don't have an ideal preparation' - Jamie Day unhappy with Bangladesh's preparation ahead of 2022 World Cup qualifiers

BetOdds WC Qualification Asia Bangladesh India Oman Afghanistan Bangladesh v Oman Bangladesh v Afghanistan Bangladesh v India

The Bangladesh national team coach is not satisfied with his team's preparation ahead of their World Cup 2022 qualifiers in Qatar...

Bangladesh national team coach Jamie Day has expressed his displeasure over the team's lack of preparation ahead of their 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers which will be held in Qatar next month.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play their remaining three qualifying games against Afghanistan on June 3, India on June 7 and Oman on June 15 in Doha.

The Bengal Tigers were to travel to Saudi Arabia and play a couple of practice matches as part of their preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifying games. The team was to be in Saudi Arabia on the morning of June 24 but unfortunately, it got deferred as the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) couldn't arrange a quarantine waiver from the local government.

The British coach wasn't happy about the delay in travel as he felt that it would hamper his team's preparation ahead of the important matches.

"Obviously this is not the ideal preparation for the players. It was also disappointing but the credit to the players who are still motivated and hoping to get something sooner than later.

"We aren’t lucky compared to other teams going to Qatar or abroad for the preparation. Yes, it is difficult to get prepared in such a situation. We must have better facilities there, train in better pitches, get to acclimatise with the weather if we could go there at the right time," said the former Arsenal youth player.

BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag suggested that while they did get a verbal clearance from Saudi Arabia on the quarantine exemption, however, they were advised not to travel unless they get an official communication over the same.

"We have completed everything after getting the verbal confirmation about the quarantine exemption from them but they requested us to defer our journey for one day," said Shohag.

Bangladesh currently occupy the last place in Group E as they have managed to collect just a point from the five matches they have played so far. The only point they got came against India in Kolkata in October 2019 as they had played out a 1-1 draw against the Blue Tigers.

The Indian football team, under coach Igor Stimac's tutelage, have already reached Qatar and have started training. India play their first match against the hosts on June 3 followed by Bangladesh on June 7 and Afghanistan on June 15.

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2021-05-25 10:00:07

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