De Kruif coming today with goalkeeping coach
Lodewijk de Kruif will arrive here this morning to take charge of the under-23 national football team ahead of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers. The Dutchman, who will work on contractual basis for this assignment, will bring along with him German goalkeeping coach Christian Schwichler for training the goalkeepers in this short period of time.
Before departing for Netherlands after the end of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in early February, de Kruif reportedly had a positive discussion with the Bangladesh Football federation president and national teams committee members regarding the appointment of a coach for the goalkeepers of the national and youth teams as he felt that some of technical faults of the national team's goalkeepers were exposed during that tournament, where hosts Bangladesh finished runners-up.
Hence Schwichler's appointment was an expected move, but it remains to be seen how much the German manages to rectify the technical faults of the 'keepers in such a short span of time.
The 36-year-old German had a stint with Lebanon national team as their goalkeeping coach in 2012 with moderate success. He had also had stints with Sudanese club Al-Merreikh SC and most recently with Saudi Arabian club Ettifaq FC as goalkeeping coach.
The two foreign coaches, along with national team's assistant coach Saiful Bari Titu and the support staff, will continue the training camp at the Bangabandhu National Stadium till March 14 before moving to BKSP in Savar. Bangladesh host Syria, Uzbekistan and India in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers to be held here from March 27 to 31.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh national team and the coaching staff will be accorded a reception at Prime Minister's residential house of Gono Bhaban in the evening for their performance in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
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