Jibon sets sights on gold
National football team’s striker Nabib Newaj Jibon believes recent good performance against big teams in World Cup qualifiers will boost their confidence ahead of the South Asian (SA) Games, starting in Nepal from December 1.
“We have really put up good performances against big opponents during the World Cup qualifiers. We are going to compete in the SA Games against teams who are equal to us in strength, so the recent-past performances will definitely boost our confidence. If we can carry those performance to the Games, it is possible to produce good results, even secure gold medal,” Jibon told The Daily Star on the eve of the team’s departure for Nepal yesterday.
Bangladesh, who won gold medal in the regional games in 1999 and 2010, bagged bronze medal in the last edition in India three years ago.
Bangladesh are believed to be one of the gold-medal contenders alongside holders Nepal with Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka the other teams in the competition. Bangladesh team features 16 senior team players, out of whom nine players – Yeasin Khan, Rahmat Mia, Riyadul Hasan, Biswanth Gosh, Jamal Bhuiyan, Biplu Ahmed, Saad Uddin, Mohammad Ibrahim and Jibon -- are regular members of the starting-eleven of the senior side while Tutul Hossain Badsha and Rabiul Hasan have often been used in the starting eleven too.
“If you compare with the squad from the 2016 edition, the current side is better in both technique and tactic and this side has been showing consistency under the guidance of Jamie Day. But to be honest, the coach in 2016 was not good and we conceded goals due to silly mistakes.
“Besides, we went to the SA Games in India on the back of some disappointing performances in the Russia World Cup qualifiers where we conceded four to five goals in each match and we were mentally down. But this time, we have been performing better in World Cup qualifying matches and we are mentally boosted,” said Jibon, who believes three days’ preparation will not be an issue as the players have good understanding and they know the coach’s playing style very well.
The 29-year-old striker scored three goals in the previous edition, but this time the Abahani striker is not willing to set himself any target so that he can play without pressure.
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