SAFF Championship: First match BAngladesh vs Pakistan Pre Match Preview (stats)

BANGLADESH Mamun; Karim, Ariful, Meshu, Sujan(c); Zahid, Islam, Mamun, P Das Mithun, Ameli PAKISTAN Jaffar(c);  Faisal, Manzoor, Ishaq, Qureshi; Mullah, Ahmed, Iqbal, Ikram; Abbas, Pathan

Match Preview of Pakistan Vs Bangladesh in SAFF championship 2011 is here. The 2011 SAFF Championship kicks off in style with a Group B encounter pitting the top ranked team of the group (infact the whole competition) against the minnows Pakistan. Certainly a David vs Goliath battle where Bangladesh would like to make their intentions clear while Pakistan would be ever ready to spring a surprise.

The two teams had last met over two legs in the first round of the 2014 FWorld Cup Qualifier where Bangladesh had humbled Pakistan at Dhaka netting 3 goals past them while conceding none, and had played out a comfortable draw at the return leg, eliminating Pakistan in the process.

Both teams have seen a change of coaches, with Bangladesh replacing the short lasting Jovanoski with Nikola Ilievski and Pakistan getting  Zaviša Milosavljević on board to replace Tariq Lutfi.

Bangladesh might as well be favourites for the match with their frontman Ameli, a constant threat having already scored against Pakistan in the WCQ. Moreover, they will be striving to do their much higher ranking justice.

Pakistan, on the other hand, with their physical style of play and new tactics employed by new coach Milosavljevic, they certainly have a few tricks hidden up their sleeve. Moreover, with the coach calling on foreign based players, notably Adnan Ahmed and Atif Bashir from England and Wales, they certainly have a chance to pull off an early upset.


Facts about Both Team

• Bangladesh are the highest ranked team in the competition ranked 142 in the world.

• Bangladesh have faced Pakistan 14 times and just have an edge winning 6 and drawing 3.

• Bangladesh have won the SAFF Championship once before in 2003.

• In the last edition Bangladesh were knocked out in the S/F by eventual champions India but still scored the most goals in the tournament (11 goals).

• Veteran Pakistan Player Zesh Rehman had played for top English clubs like Fulham and QPR but has not been selected in the squad.

• Interestingly, Pakistan among the 8 nations, have the most number of players plying their trade overseas from Denmark to Wales to England.

Fifa ranking                                   Rank                                                   Points

Bangladesh                                 142                                                         181
Pakistan                                        174                                                           87

Record of Both Team

Field Report

 Bangladesh

 Pakistan

Head to Head

SAFF Championship ‎(SAFF)‎

06-Dec-2009

Bangladesh 0 - Pakistan 0

Last Five Matches

Bangladesh
28-Jul-2011	Bangladesh 2 - Lebanon 0	WCQA
23-Jul-2011	Lebanon 4 - Bangladesh 0	WCQA
25-Mar-2011	Bangladesh 0 - Philippines 3	ACC
23-Mar-2011	Bangladesh 2 - Myanmar 0	ACC
21-Mar-2011	Palestine 2 - Bangladesh 0	ACC

Pakistan
25-Mar-2011	Chinese Taipei 0 - Pakistan 2	ACC
23-Mar-2011	Pakistan 1 - India 3	ACC
21-Mar-2011	Turkmenistan 3 - Pakistan 0	ACC
08-Dec-2009	Pakistan 7 - Bhutan 0	SAFF
06-Dec-2009	Bangladesh 0 - Pakistan 0	SAFF

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