Bangladesh national football team coach Javier Cabrera is confident in his 28-man squad to play their FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers against Palestine.
Cabrera, along with his boys, scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia today to have a two-week-long (13-day) camp ahead of the match to take place in Kuwait on March 21.
Cabrera is happy with the camp in Saudi Arabia, as he said that the two-week-long camp in Saudi Arabia will be an ideal preparation for his charges ahead of their Group I double-leg FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers against Palestine.
Bangladesh, who have lost against Australia 0-7 and drew against Lebanon 1-1 in their first two qualifiers, will leave for Saudi Arabia on Saturday for training at the King Fahad Sports City Stadium before flying to Kuwait on March 17 for their away match against Palestine at the Jaber Al-Ahmed International Stadium on March 21.
They will play the return leg at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on March 26.
‘We are lucky to have the chance to go to Saudi Arabia for two-week training in order to prepare for the next games against Palestine,’ said Cabrera in the pre-tour press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation on Thursday.
Cabrera called up 28 players for the Palestine ties with three new faces: Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club defender Taj Uddin, Brothers Union forward Rabbi Hossen Rahul, and Police Football Club midfielder Syed Shah Quazem Kirmanee.
The Spaniard claimed that he would work with his charges to come up with fresh concepts during their training in Saudi Arabia in an effort to enable them to compete against stronger teams.
‘Training in Saudi Arabia has to be the moment to go to the next level with introducing new concepts and new things that will make the team better to be able to compete against a really strong team in Palestine,’ he added. He also warned his charges that the way they played against Lebanon would not be enough to earn a positive result against a much stronger Palestine team.
‘Doing the same things that we did against Lebanon is not going to be enough to get anything against Palestine.’
Cabrera added that during the camp, his main focus would be to create a team that could be better than the past year.
‘We have to have a better team than we had in 2023; that is the only thing. I just gave an option to compete against Palestine,’ said the coach.
‘We always trust the players we are calling... There are many things to improve to defend better, create chances, and score more goals.’
