‘The boys showed character’
Bangladesh may have lost to reigning Asian Champions Qatar 2-0 in their 2022 World Cup Qualifier match, but the men in red and green won generous praise from football stakeholders for the sustained fight they put up against the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts.
Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu, one of the country’s top coaches on the domestic circuit, believed the footballers showed true character by playing competitive football instead of just defending against superior opponents.
“I’m happy with their performance. Before the match I said that if the boys could implement 60 to 70 per cent of the game plan, I would be happy. The boys showed their character, which is very important to become a team, and the boys have to show their character in every match. They have to have the same mentality regardless of whether the opponents are small or big,” Mintu said.
“I think the players’ mentalities have also changed because if you want to win the match, you need to defend as well as attack. Now our players know what to do during the transition period,” said the former national footballer, who also believes that this group of national footballers are now capable of implementing the coach’s instructions, having improved in that aspect in club football where they are guided by some foreign coaches as well as a few quality domestic coaches.
“It seemed to me that coach Jamie [Day] did some homework on how to stop Qatar and took notes from Qatar-India match. The boys played accordingly and made good defensive blocks that did not allow the opponents to expose the defence. Bangladesh also tried to initiate attacks on break tried to utilize set-pieces like long throw-ins by Raihan Hasan, but unfortunately they could not cash in on those opportunities. I think Bangladesh played well and lost the game,” said Mintu, adding that it would not have been surprising if Bangladesh scored a goal and drew the match against Qatar.
Mintu however opined that Qatar could not maintain their speed of play and implement their plans efficiently on a rain-soaked ground, which was to Bangladesh’s advantage.
“It doesn’t matter whether you lose the game; if you display character to have ball possession, build attacks, create chances and defend collectively, then you have to understand that your football has been improving. Although it is not possible to evaluate the country’s football with one match, I think the boys played well against Qatar,” said the former Chittagong Abahani coach.