‘Small details are what matter’
Chattogram Abahani coach Maruful Haque claimed that the two early goals and injury to two of his important players made the work hard for his team in the final of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup yesterday.
The home side went two goals down within the first 20 minutes, but were hamstrung by the injuries to right-back Rahmat Mia and attacking midfielder Jean Charles Didier as they looked to mount a fightback following Luka Rotkovic’s goal early in the second half.
“Didier and Rahmat’s injuries made us suffer. Didier plays the role of link-up between the defence and the forward line. So his injury and the one to Rahmat were big blows,” Maruful said during the post-match press conference.
“Even I thought Luka [Rotkovic] didn’t perform according to my expectations. After getting the goal, he got hungry and tried shots from difficult angles where he should have looked to play the passes to his teammates,” the coach said, further claiming that better defensive marking and goalkeeping could have averted the two goals.
Skipper Jamal Bhuiyan was disappointed at missing the opportunity to lift a trophy as captain.
“I’m really disappointed. It was a big opportunity for me to lift the trophy,” the 29-year-old midfielder said.
Chattogram Abahani had six foreign players in their squad, but used four of them in the final. One other foreigner, Prince Tagoe, was not tried in the entire tournament and another one, defender Petar Plane, was only used as a substitute in one of the matches.
However, Jamal implied that they were short in the foreign recruits department.
“I think we should have had two more foreigners in our side. We stopped Lee Tuck and the Japanese striker [Brunon Suzuki], but couldn’t stop the others. Small details are what matter in football,” said Jamal in a frustrated tone.
The winning team’s coach and captain were happy to finish as unbeaten champions in their first oversea appearance.
“It’s a great achievement for our team. My team played fantastic football and we deserved to win for the style of football we play,” Terengganu FC coach Nafuzi Bin Zain said.
The player-of-the-tournament and top-scorer Andrew Lee Tuck said he had the belief in himself to win the title and also praised the level of competition and the supporter’s response.
“It’s been a tough tournament, but it was worth it,” the Englishman, who has taken his popularity to a new level with his sublime performances, said. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it [the tournament] to be this good and didn’t expect a full-house crowd.”