Sri Lanka and Bangladesh meet in SAFF curtain raiser today

The Sri Lanka squad

By Susil Premalal - Reporting from Male

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will clash in the curtain raiser match of the SAFF Football Tournament at the Maldives National Stadium in Male, today.

India, Nepal and the Maldives are the other three teams competing in this tournament, which will be conducted on a round-robin basis until October 16.

The Asian Football Federation and the Maldives Football Association have made arrangements to present a cash award of US $50,000 to the champions.

Sri Lanka are currently ranked 205th out of 210 nations in the FIFA Rankings while Bangladesh are in 189th position.

Sri Lanka last won the SAFF Football Championship in 1995 while Bangladesh emerged champions in 2003. In addition, Bangladesh was the runners-up twice in 1999 and 2005. India has the record for the most number of titles, having won the SAFF Championship on seven occasions. On current form, both teams look evenly matched but Sri Lanka had the better of Bangladesh 

1-0 when they met at the International Friendship encounter in 2018.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh met for the first time in 1979 and since then the two countries have figured in 16 encounters. Out of those matches, Bangladesh have won 10, Sri Lanka have won four and two games ended in a draw.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Head Coach Ameer Alagic and Skipper Sujan Perera expressed their confidence of winning this opening fixture and progressing towards the final of the tournament.