Javier Cabrera hopes that his team鈥檚 AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers third round tie against India at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on March 25 will be one of the most exciting during his time in the dugout as the Bangladesh national team coach.
Bangladesh began their training with 28 of the 30 called-up players at the Kings Arena on Saturday as part of their preparation for the match. They will travel to Saudi Arabia on March 6 for a week-long camp and return home on March 17.
The two players who missed the opening day鈥檚 training, Italian fourth-tier club Olbia Calcio FC midfielder Fahamedul Islam and Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Chowdhury, will join the camp on March 10 and 18, respectively.
鈥楢 very special match, probably the most exciting one, since I鈥檝e been here for three years already鈥e are going to prepare for it. We are definitely mentally ready and excited,鈥� Cabrera told the reporters during training.
Cabrera was also delighted that Hamza and Fahamedul would get adequate time to train with the squad despite joining late.
鈥楾hey [Hamza and Fahamedul] will join as soon as they can. Hamza has a match on [March 16], so he will join in that week, which is good enough鈥� Fahamedul鈥檚 last game is on [March 8], so he will be joining on the 10th in Jeddah. So it鈥檚 good that he will be able to get eight days of training and hopefully will get to play one or two practice matches,鈥� said the Spaniard.
鈥楾he players are really motivated about the challenge, and I think we are going to have the right preparations with enough time to get the best of the camp and have a big chance to achieve something important in India.鈥�
In the double-leg format qualifiers, Bangladesh will play home and away against India, Hong Kong, and Singapore in their Group C campaign.
The top-placed team from the group will qualify for the final stage of the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
Bangladesh had a dismal campaign in the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers as they finished at the bottom of the four-team Group I table with one point.
聽鈥楾he World Cup Qualifiers round two was tough, really. But I鈥檓 really positive about their performances even though we are very aware that we should have probably achieved better results,鈥� recalled Cabrera while reminiscing about their debacle in the World Cup qualifiers.
