I'm human after all, says recognition-deprived Bangladesh coach

Bangladesh football had another occasion to dream of reviving the glory days as the girls clinched the SAFF U-20 Women's Championship trophy on home soil on Thursday, but one unfortunate incident involving the winning team's coaching staff raised many eyebrows.

It all happened when Masud Ahmed Ujjol, who has been working as the goalkeeping coach with the senior and all age-group teams for the past two years, was denied deserving recognition as his name was absent on the list of medal winners. And instead, three Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) officials -- one assigned in the role of a second team leader and two of his assistants – were able to make their way to the award ceremony's podium.      

A dejected Ujjol -- one of the seven coaching staff present in the dugout in the Kamalapur Stadium on Thursday, alongside head coach Golam Rabbani Choton, assistant coach Mahbubur Rahman Litu, manager Amirul Islam Babu, fitness trainer Ivan Razlog, doctor and physiotherapist -- had left the field in silence but later returned at the request of the Bangladesh captain Shamsunnahar Jr, Shopna Rani and others.

Asked about his reaction after being deprived of a deserving champions' medal, the goalkeeping coach expressed mixed feelings.   

"As far as me not getting the medal is concerned, I would say the management knows best, regarding why it happened the way it did," Ujjol told The Daily Star on Friday. 

"You see, as a coach, the most important thing for me is to see my mentees perform and succeed. So, it fills my heart with content to see the girls shine at the centre-stage.      

"But at the end of the day, I am human after all," added the goalkeeping coach, who resumed duty to train the senior and U-17 team in the morning today.     

However strange it may seem, this time, the 23-member Bangladesh team had as many as 14 individuals in the coach-official contingent.

The BFF Women's Wing chairman, Mahfuza Aktar Kiran, had said before the just-completed tournament began that the recent success in women's football had garnered attraction on all fronts and hence many feel the urge to associate themselves with the women's circuit.