Jamal draws on 2018 success ahead of Jakarta return

Eight years ago at Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Bangladesh football made history by advancing to the knockout stage of the Asian Games for the very first time. Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuiyan played a pivotal role in that campaign, scoring a stoppage-time winner against Qatar in their final group match.

Bangladesh had lost their opening game 3-0 to Uzbekistan before drawing 1-1 with Thailand and then edging past Qatar to secure a place in the Round of 16 against North Korea. All three opponents were higher-ranked than Bangladesh, but the booters progressed alongside Uzbekistan.

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As Bangladesh return to Jakarta for the FIFA ASEAN Cup, Jamal is hopeful they can produce another surprise.

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Following the team's final training session at home on Saturday morning, the 36-year-old midfielder urged his teammates not to be intimidated by their opponents.

Bangladesh, ranked 181st in the world, will open their Group A campaign in Division 1 against 136th-ranked Malaysia on September 25 before facing Singapore (148) on September 28 and hosts Indonesia (118) three days later.

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“We know it’s going to be hard. Indonesia and Malaysia are two very strong teams,” Jamal told reporters when asked about the challenge ahead.

“But when we were in Indonesia in 2018, I think we were in a group with Uzbekistan, Thailand and Qatar. At that time, nobody thought we would qualify. But we qualified for the next round, the Round of 16. So nobody expected us to qualify then, and the same thing can happen this time as well.”

Bangladesh had also held Indonesia to a goalless draw at the same venue in a friendly match four years ago.

The Bangladesh team are scheduled to leave for the Indonesian capital late on Saturday night and are expected to arrive in Jakarta on Sunday morning after a transit in Singapore.