The Qatar Football Association confirmed on Saturday the fixture details of the FIFA World Cup 2022 and the AFC Asia Cup 2023 joint-qualification match between Asian champions Qatar and Bangladesh,. The Group E fixture will be played on December 04 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, reports UNB.
The match will kick off at 1900hrs locally, i.e. 2200hrs or 10pm in Bangladesh. It will be the first and only qualifier in the Asian continent to be held in pandemic-hit 2020, with the change in schedule approved by FIFA as well as the two participating member associations.
Also on Saturday, all members of the Bangladesh National Football Team submitted their second samples for Covid-19 tests since arriving in Doha on Thursday.
In that first round, two Bangladeshi officials--Md Amer Khan (Team Manager) and Fuad Hasan (Team Physiotherapist), tested positive - although neither presented any of the symptoms associated with the virus. Earlier, Bangladesh head coach Jamie Day was prevented from joining his charges as they flew out after testing positive for the coronavirus. He remains hopeful of joining the team in the coming days.
The Bangladesh squad, divided into three groups, hit their hotel gym for the first time on Saturday. While the team maintained a 03-day mandatory quarantine (since arrival), they remained confined to their hotel. None of the players have kicked a ball in anger yet since arriving in the oil-and-gas rich Gulf nation.
The Bangladesh team are likely to start its practice sessions with two preparatory matches against local selections scheduled for November 25 (Wednesday) and 28 before the big game against the hosts.
It will be the return fixture between the two sides in Group E, with Qatar having eked out a 2-0 win in the first meeting in Dhaka in October 2019.
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