Maruful still hopeful!
Bangladesh coach Maruful Haque put on a brave face at the post-match press conference despite his side suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of defending champions Afghanistan in their first Group B fixture of the SAFF Suzuki Cup at the Trivandrum Sports Hub yesterday. The recently-appointed coach said this was 'only a match lost,' and that their progression from the tough group stages was still quite within their reach.
“We have lost only a match, not the tournament. This defeat doesn't change our focus as we will take the field in the next matches with a winning target,” said the 46-year-old coach.
The veteran coach, who recently earned the UEFA A license, gave a very bookish reply when assessing the difference between the two teams.
“The difference was in physique and physicality. That means they [Afghanistan] are more physically imposing and fitter than us,” Maruful said. “Our mistakes were that we kept losing possession with missed passes and that was when they pounced on us with counter-attacks.”
Maruful felt Bangladesh could have brought themselves in the match had the forwards capitalised on the chances they got. “The other difference was made by the forwards. At one stage they had scored three goals from three chances, and we failed to score any from two chances. This is something which is ingrained in our domestic football which we can't seem to get out of,” opined Maruful.
The Afghanistan coach, who was seen pumping his fists as his players kept pounding the Bangladesh goal, was humble in his assessment.
“Bangladesh didn't play as bad as the final scoreline suggests. They got a few chances and they could have had two goals,” said the German, who previously managed the Georgia national team on caretaker basis after a two-year spell in charge of the Georgia under-21 team.
The German, though, expressed his satisfaction with the clean and commanding victory as he felt that the win, not conceding a single goal, and no cards or injuries to his players were all pleasing aspects of the game.
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