'Give us 5-10 yrs to reach there'
Coach Lodewijk de Kruif thinks Bangladesh may need five to 10 years to reach the level of football that was on display by Uzbekistan against his side in the Asian Games at the Ansan Wa Stadium here yesterday.
De Kruif also praised Uzbekistan for the way they played against his charges and said that he would be happy if he was the coach of the Uzbekistan team.
"The Uzbek team is a very good team and they are very organised. I was previously impressed with their performance in their match against Hong Kong. The first half was very difficult for us but in the second half we did better," said the Dutchman at the post match conference yesterday.
"If you analysed the moments leading up to the first goal, the ball was on the side line and one of them [Uzbeks] got injured in the area when they scored. As a professional, it was an unfortunate goal because when referees do not blow the whistle, you have to continue the game but I won't blame them," said the Bangladesh coach.
"When you concede two very easy goals against a very good opponent, it is very difficult to get your own goals. So for me, I have to coach them, keep them hundred per cent concentrated and keep them playing football at a good level. We can learn a lot from this match, we need five to 10 years to come to the rank of 52 or 53 on the FIFA rankings," said de Kruif adding that against Hong Kong they would go for a victory.
Replying to a query, Uzbekistan coach Irdjalal Kasimov said, "We kept playing in line with the FIFA fair play policy and our first goal was not the decisive one in the match as we had scored two goals after."
After having played a goalless game against Hong Kong in the first match, Uzbekistan pressed hard against Bangladesh to keep them in the race and the Uzbek coach said they would have shown the same character against Bangladesh even if they had won their previous match against Hong Kong.
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