The Sri Lanka Football Federation is hosting a four nations football tournament 2021, which will begin on November 8 (Monday). The national men’s football team of Bangladesh will feature in the competition. The 23-member Bangladeshi team has already arrived in Sri Lanka to compete in the tournament. This will be Portuguese coach Mario Lemos’ first assignment as head coach. All eyes will be on him during the competition to see how his team performs. Let’s take a look at the teams that will participate and the tournament schedule.
Who will compete in the 2021 Four Nations Football Competition?
Bangladesh, Seychelles, Maldives, and host Sri Lanka are the four teams competing in the championship. According to the most recent FIFA rankings, Maldives have the highest (156) FIFA ranking among the teams. Bangladesh are ranked 187th, followed by Seychelles (199) and Sri Lanka (204).
The Maldives performed well in the 2021 SAFF Championship. They came in the third position in the group, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the finals. Sri Lanka’s greatest performance in the tournament came in a 0-0 draw against India. The Sri Lankan national team finished last in the standings. Bangladesh began their SAFF Championship campaign with a victory, but their momentum halted in the last two games. On the other hand, Seychelles is a member of the African Football Confederation (CAF).
The Bangladesh Football Federation has chosen Mario Lemos as head coach following their failure in the South Football Championship. He is the current head coach of Abahani Ltd and is familiar with the Bangladesh players. BFF is hopeful that Mario’s appointment will help Bangladesh win a multi-national contest and improve their current rankings.
Tournament Format and Fixtures
There will be only one group in the four-nation football competition 2021. In other words, each of the four teams will compete against the other. The top two teams in the points standings will advance to the championship match on November 17th (Wednesday). All of the games will be staged at Colombo’s Racecourse Ground.
Bangladesh will play Seychelles in their opening match of the competition, which will begin on November 8 at 4.30 p.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time). Bangladesh’s prospects in the tournament will be defined by how well they do in the first match.
Bangladesh Squad
Ashraful Islam Rana (GK), Anisur Rahman Zico (GK), Shahidul Alam Sohel (GK), Yeasin Arafat (DF), Rahmat Mia (DF), Topu Barman (DF), Rezaul Karim (DF), Riyadul Hasan Rafi (DF), Tutul Hossain Badsha (DF), Yeasin Khan (DF), Sushanto Tripura (DF), Jamal Bhuyan (MF, Captain), Atiqur Rahman Fahad (MF), Mohammad Ridoy (MF), Rakib Hossain (MF), Obidur Rahman Nawbab (MF), Sumon Reza (FW), Mahbubur Rahman Sufil (FW), Jewel Rana (FW), Mohammad Ibrahim (FW), Saad Uddin (FW), Mehedi Hasan Royal (FW), Foysal Ahmed Fahim (FW)
Bottom Line
Bangladesh does have a good chance of winning the tournament since they are the tournament’s second-best team as per FIFA rankings. The majority of the players competed in the just-finished SAFF Football Championship 2021 and have excellent chemistry between them. Mario Lemos has to unite his group in order to achieve the best performance on the field.
Bangladesh’s strongest opponent in this competition will be the Maldives, who have the highest ranking and are stronger than the other teams. However, Bangladesh have a realistic chance to win the four nations football competition 2021 if they can show consistency from the start.
Source: United News of Bangladesh