Bangladesh face Maldives in first of two matches today

Touring Maldives National Football team will play hosts Bangladesh national side in the first of the two- match FIFA Tier-1 International Friendly series in the city today (Wednesday), reports UNB.

The match between two South Asian rivals will kick off at 6 pm at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital.

It will be the 19th international football match between FIFA ranked 186th Bangladesh and FIFA ranked 163rd Maldives since 1984.

In the previous 18 encounters, both the teams won six, drew six and lost the remaining six matches.

In their last two meetings, Bangladesh earned 2-1 win over the Maldives at home while they played 1-1 draw with the Maldives in the away match.

Ahead of the today's (Wednesday) match, the Spanish Head Coach of Bangladesh team Javier Fernandez Cabrera and captain Topu Barman disclosed their plan, preparations and expectation at a press conference at the Kings arena Tuesday afternoon.

Coach of the Maldives team Ali Suzain and player Samooh Ali also addressed the day's press conference.

The Maldives team which arrived Dhaka on Monday, made their practice session at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on Tuesday evening after hosts Bangladesh made their final practices at the same venue Tuesday afternoon.

The 2nd and last match between two teams will be held on November 16 (Saturday) at the same venue.