Indonesia test to kickstart Cabrera tenure
Javier Cabrera, the latest foreign coach of Bangladesh national team, will have his first taste of occupying the hot seat when he takes the men in red and green to Indonesia for two friendly matches later this month.
The 37-year-old Spaniard, who has previously worked mostly with academies, will be the 23rd foreign coach as Bangladesh look to make a new start following two experiments in the wake of acrimonious departure of Jamie Day.
After a meeting of the National Teams' Committee, its chairman Nabil Ahmed disclosed the new coach's appointment at the BFF House yesterday.
"Spaniard Javier Cabrera has been appointed as our new national team coach for 11 months, ending in December 2022. We are expecting him to be here by 15th of this month," the BFF vice-president said.
"His first task would be to lead the team in two FIFA friendlies against Indonesia in Bali on January 24 and 27," Nabil added.
Although an open secret for the last few days, Cabrera's appointment is as a bit of a surprise considering the game's local governing body's recent drift towards giving charge, albeit temporarily, to experienced club coaches such as Oscar Bruzon given and Mario Lemos following the separation with Day, who had a similar background to Cabrera's.
The Spaniard, though, is a UEFA Pro licenced coach, last acting as the academy coach of La Liga side Deportvo Alaves. The 37-year-old also worked as the technical director of Sporting Goa, an Indian outfit, from 2013 to 2015. He had also worked with Rayo Majadahondo, a Spanish second division side. The BFF high-ups believe that his academic knowledge will help him succeed in his job.
"Cabrera has good academic qualification. He is young and energetic with good academic background, which attracted us," Nabil said.
One of the points of contention between BFF and Day was the time the former coach spent away from Bangladesh. According Nabil, this time there is no scope for that.
"Cabrera doesn't have a family. So he will be able to stay here and be involved with the game or watch the games. He will be allowed 10 days of paid leave during his contract period."
While Bangladesh have been starved of success for a long time, with both Bruzon and Lemos failing to guide the team to a regional trophy, the target for success will remain the same under the new coach, no matter how novice he is. There are quite a few assignments for the men in red and green in the coming months, and the game's local governing body would want to taste success with the Spaniard.
"There may be a SAFF Championship in October this year. Then there is a FIFA window in March and AFC (Asian Cup) Qualifiers in June. So these will be our target," the BFF vice-president said.
Nabil also claimed that they are at the latter stage of an 'amicable solution' regarding the separation process with Jamie Day.
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