Shawdesh Desk:

Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan believed that playing at home would give his side an advantage when they take on upper-ranked Afghanistan in the two FIFA international friendly matches at the Bashundhara Sports Complex on September 4 and 7.

Jamal, who currently plays his club football in Argentina with third division outfit Sol De Mayo, joined the national team camp on Thursday, 10 days after Javier Cabrera’s charges started their training for the two games.

Bangladesh, ranked 189th in the current FIFA rankings, started their training on July 21, while Afghanistan, ranked 157th, started their training at Uttara’s Armed Police Battalion Headquarters playground on August 27, a day after their arrival in the city.

Jamal, who returned from Argentina on Wednesday, was the last man to join the camp following Bashundhara Kings and Abahani Limited players, who joined the camp after completing their club assignments in the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup preliminary rounds, respectively, in August.

‘Afghanistan are a very strong team. Many of their players play in Europe. They are 30 to 40 [32] places above us in rankings. They are stronger than us, but we will play on our home ground. So we have an advantage. And I hope we will get a good result,’ Jamal told reporters after Thursday’s training.

The midfielder also vowed to carry the spirit that they showed in this year’s SAFF Championship in India to get success against the Afghans.

Bangladesh reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2009, when they lost to Kuwait 0-1 in extra time.

‘We will have to maintain the same spirit that we showed in the SAFF Championship when we play against them [Afghanistan] to have good results,’ he said.

The 33-year old Danish-born Bangladeshi Jamal captained and scored on his debut for Sol de Mayo’s 2-1 win against Germinal on August 27.

Jamal is expected to leave the country for Argentina soon after his national assignment, as Sol de Mayo’s next fixture in the league is against Olimpo on September 9.

Jamal left the country in mid-July and signed the deal with Sol de Mayo on August 18 to become the first Bangladeshi to play professional football in the South American country.