Sports Reporter
Bangladesh National Football Team will take on United Arab Emirates today (Friday) at 9:00pm (BST) in a FIFA International Friendly before their last qualifier match of the FIFA World Cup-2018 against Jordan.
The Bengal boys are ranked 177th in the FIFA world ranking while Emirates boys are 64th. Till now, Bangladesh failed to see any win in the four matches they played against their respective rivals.
Earlier, the red and greens left Dhaka for Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night.
The friendly match was arranged to make the boys ready for their last encounter of the World Cup Qualifiers against Jordan which is scheduled for March 24 at 6:30pm (BST) at the Amman International Stadium, Amman in Jordan.
The team is rearranged and the head coach Gonzalo Sanchez Moreno is also newly appointed for the national team. Some of the key players, including attacking midfielder Mamunul Islam, of the team are absent. Mostly, the team was formed with Under-23 players.
However, no spectator is allowed to see the match which will be played at the Zayed Sports City Football Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The stadium which has a capacity of 49 thousand spectators will remain empty as the UAE authority would not allow anybody to see the match since they are afraid that their next opponents might get strategic information about the team. Not only the football fans, but also the journalist would not be allowed in the match.
Apart from the local fans, may Bangladeshis who live in there for job purpose may come and enjoy the match.
United Arab Emirates Football Association already informed Bangladesh Football Federation about the close-door match.
The Emirates boys will play their next matches against Palestine and Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup Football Qualifier. They were very concerned that the opponent teams may get information about their football strategies if they get videos of the Bangladesh match.
Someone may raise question about why the FIFA 64th ranked team is playing the friendly match against FIFA's 177th ranked Bangladesh. Actually, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin requested the Emirates football authority to play the Friendly match and the Emirates authority could not refuse a request from a long-time friend.
After the five-day tour in Abu Dhabi, the red and greens will leave for Jordan to play the last qualifier match of the 2018 World Cup.