Blame it on anti-football

There is a whole lot of difference between taking the first shot of a penalty shootout and the one in the sudden death situation.

It mattered little when India's Lalramzouva blasted the first shot miles over the bar and into the stands during a nail-biting tiebreaker of the SAFF U-19 Championship semifinal against Bangladesh in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu yesterday.

But it cost Bangladesh youths a place in the final when Rahmat Miah did a la Zouva while taking the first shot in the sudden death after the regulation first five spot kicks produced a 3-3 stalemate.

And the moment Rahmat drove his shot over, the Indian camp burst into celebrations, sending their opponents into the depths of despair.

India's 4-3 win in the shootout at the ANFA ground was a fair result against a team that had turned up in the match with a defensive mindset. The boys of coach Saiful Bari Titu had done their best to keep an attacking Indian team at bay during the entire 90 minutes that ended in a goalless draw.

But despite doing all the hard work in training for the last couple of days, during which the main focus was how win in the penalty shootout, the U-19s ended up as sore losers.

And this is where the divine justice was done where anti-football lost the battle against beautiful football. We have appreciated the recent success of the U-16 team at home not because they have won the championship in Sylhet, but because of the attacking brand of football they played.

This U-19 team also played attractive football in their two group league games against Bhutan and hosts Nepal, who will now take on India in Saturday's final.

But why Titu, who himself was defensive midfielder, instructed his boys to resort to a negative approach?

“India is a better team than us and they played really well. We came here for a draw but our training on penalties did not work well,” said Titu at the post-match briefing.

His statement may make sense for a professional player but unfortunately his concept is absolutely rubbish for those who love to express themselves. If we are not mistaken, age-level events are meant more for freedom of expression. It's not a place where youths are supposed to feel that they are inferior to their opponents. It's a place where they will go out to showcase their budding talents.

If we go by what Titu said then aren't we making the future generation of our footballers grow up with an inferiority complex?

It was exactly a week ago when Bangladesh colts were up against their Indian counterparts in a similar shootout situation. And in that tiebreaker a positive and confident Bangladesh came out triumphant.

We feel for this U-19 team not because they have lost but for not being allowed to play their natural game. Even in defeat they showed their resolve to comply with the instruction of their coach. This is absolutely a positive sign from a group that may be even better if they are asked to play attacking football.

Football in our country has failed to make any impression for decades. Recently, the success of the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and to some extent the success of the colts brought a positive vibe. But that can only head to positive direction if we can build a future generation of footballers who will not only be disciplined but also be fearless.