New-look booters finally get on the field

The national football team finally had its first practice session for the upcoming SAFF Championship at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday, with interim head coach Oscar Bruzon focusing on speed and distribution of the ball.

The Spaniard trained all 27 players for nearly two hours after dividing them into groups and handing out tasks, including passing in tight areas, shooting on target and working on attacking build-up.

Captain Jamal Bhuiyan looked happy to train under a new coach but refrained from commenting about Jamie Day, who has been relieved of his duties for two months.

"Today, Bruzon disclosed his plans about how to play and what he wants from us. We all will try to adjust to his philosophy because we have all been together for a long time and know each other very well, so we are a good group," Jamal said after training.

"Bruzon explained his system to the players who are not with Bashundhara Kings. He wants to play in a new formation and we think we can all adapt to it quickly. We focused on the speed of the ball, passing the ball and holding the ball."

During his introduction on Wednesday, Bruzon said he would continue with his patented 4-3-3 in the national team and Jamal appreciated the attacking formation.

"We initially used to play a 4-3-3 formation under Jamie Day and I personally like either a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1. In the last two or three matches, the national team played a 3-4-3, which no club in the Bangladesh Premier League used. But most teams play a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 in the league, so it won't be a problem for us to cope with the formation Bruzon wants to use."

It was also a momentous day for Nigeria-born Bangladeshi Eleta Kingsley, who donned the red and green for the first time although FIFA has still not given him clearance to represent the national team,

"It is a different feeling altogether than representing a club side. Putting on the national jersey is really something. That is why I am so nervous today. This is for the first time for me and I feel so strange. Emotions also factor in when putting on this jersey," Eleta said, before looking to the future.

"The job is to make the different national team altogether. All the work done in the past is appreciated but at present, we want change. We want to have a different national team. We want to have a national team that gives joy through football and that's what we are working for," said Eleta.