Bangladesh will take on upper ranked Uzbekistan in their second Group-E match of AFC Under-23 Championship-2016
Qualifiers at Bangabandhu National Stadium at 6pm on Sunday.

Bangladesh head coach Lodewijk de Kruif is, however, positive about winning the match.

On Saturday, the Dutchman said, “We were nervous against Syria and made some silly mistakes. It would be a tough match against Uzbekistan. They are same level as Syria and the difference is vast. We have to think about the mistakes we did in the last match and must avoid them and have to be more compact organisation.”

Uzbekistan coach Ashurmatov Bakhtiyor believed it would not be an easy game.

“I saw the match (Bangladesh vs Syria) and I think Bangladesh is a good team. They couldn’t defend well and the first eleven minutes was not good for them. I expect a difficult game against them,” the former Uzbekistan footballer said, adding that the players have already adapted to the condition here.

Earlier, Bangladesh lost their first match to Syria by 4-0 goals while Uzbekistan made a good start beating India by 2-0 goals at the same venue on Friday.

However, in the other match on Sunday, Syria will face India at 3pm at the same venue.

Syrian coach Muhannad al Fakir said after winning 4-0 against the hosts the spirit of his team is very high and they want to start from where they had finished.

Indian coach Savio Medeira said they want to rectify their mistakes and continue the hard work they have produced against Uzbekistan.

UNB/RI