Booters train in Bengaluru

Bangladesh national football team began their third-phase preparation for the SAFF Championship with their first training session in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Bangladesh completed their first and second phases of preparation in Dhaka and Cambodia from June 5 to 15 before heading to Bengaluru, where the eight-nation tournament will kick off on June 21.

The men in red and green went through some unexpected issues including a lengthy immigration procedure due to e-visas of the team's foreign coaching staff and unsatisfactory accommodation at a hotel before a change of accommodation helped them settle. This afternoon's training session was their first since their 1-0 win over Cambodia on Thursday.

"We had our first training session on artificial turf today after arriving here the day before yesterday night following a long journey and with fatigue from the game in Cambodia. Saturday was the recovery day and players spent some time with the physio to recover. Today was the first training session which was short but there was intensity. We are now working on some areas that we need to improve from the previous games. The team is quite positive about the SAFF Championship and everything is going well," head coach Javier Cabrera said in a video message sent by Bangladesh Football Federation.

Cabrera is now fully focused on Bangladesh's first match against Lebanon on June 22 and he is studying footages of Lebanon's Intercontinental Cup matches against Mongolia and India, he added.