An exciting contest is on the cards when India face Bangladesh in their international friendly football match at Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in their last meeting in the SAFF Cup Championship in Nepal. India have made changes by bringing in Subrata Paul, Amrinder Singh (both keepers), Sandesh Jhingan (defender), Alwyn George (midfielder) and Balwant Singh (striker). Balwant Singh, who has been playing consistently for Churchill Brothers, is likely to make his debut on Wednesday.
India coach Wim Koevermans is confident that his boys will play to their potential and win tomorrow. "We last played against Bangladesh in the SAFF Cup and it was a very exciting match and we frustrated them by scoring the equaliser in the dying minutes through Sunil Chhetri to deny them first win against us," stated Koevermans. "We have no injury worries, the boys are all eager for tomorrow's contest and are looking forward for a win. We are going to play an attacking game," he said.
Captain Sunil Chhetri said he was looking forward to the match. "The mood in the camp is very positive. There are lot of talented youngsters in our squad at the moment. However, you always need to give them time to settle down. All of them are willing to learn and improve themselves," Chhetri said.Chhetri maintained it's all about translating the practice sessions into the match. "Unless we are able to do it, everything may go waste. It's about meeting the standards and demands of the coach. We need to stick to his instructions and carry over the high intensity practice session onto the match," he said.
Bangladesh coach lodewijk Darius De Kruif said, "We are here to play good football. This international friendly will further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. We need more such matches ... India are a very good opponent and we are happy to be here," he said. "We played well in the IFA Shield and have beaten Kolkata's giant Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and it gave us a lot of confidence," Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam said.