Cabrera accepts his errors in Palestine tie

Shortly after Bangladesh's last-gasp defeat to Palestine during the World Cup Qualifiers fixture in Dhaka on March 26, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin blamed the loss on technical errors without pointing those out.

During the post-match conference on the same day, Bangladesh head coach Javier Cabrera referred to Salahuddin's comment as his personal opinion. However, more than a month later, the Spaniard yesterday admitted that he made mistakes during that contest.

The charges of Cabrera, up next, will host mighty Australia on June 6 at the Bashundhara Kings Arena before moving to Qatar to play their last group match against Lebanon on June 11.

Asked if he spoke with the BFF president about Bangladesh's performance against Lebanon and the president's disappointment with the result against Palestine, Cabrera responded, "We may defer, but it is normal. The president is the boss, and as president of the federation, he must be demanding of the team and of me. We always had a good relationship, and I don't see the negative part [in his comments].

"The president is completely free to give his opinion, and that is fine… We need to learn from our mistakes. We have done a lot of good things in the last window, but obviously we made mistakes. We have to check that, try to learn, and improve in the next window."

The Spanish coach further said, "The team is improving, a better team than we had a year ago. We have a tougher window and we expect to do better [than the performance against Australia and Lebanon]. Let's hope for something positive for the national team."

Cabrera also plans to hold a five-session camp ahead of the Australia match, with the players reporting on June 1 or 2, following the conclusion of the Bangladesh Premier League on May 29.