‘Time to feel the charm of football again’
Amid apprehension over the further postponement of the AFC Cup, Bashundhara Kings started an assessment training with fit-again players on Tuesday which Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon sees as an opportunity for players to enjoy the great charm of football again.
Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings are scheduled to resume their maiden AFC Cup campaign from October 23 in Maldives along with three others Group E clubs -- Maziya SRC and TC Sports Club of Maldives and Chennai FC of India.
But the cancelation of today's draw for the AFC Cup's inter-zonal semifinals date raised questions over the resumption of the tournament's group matches and whether the AFC is going to postpone it further.
The answer may come next week, but Bashundhara do not want to waste time and are preparing with the aim of creating history in their maiden journey in Asia's second-tier club tournament.
The cub has already confirmed the services of two young Brazilians. Winger Robson Azevedo da Silva, commonly known as Robinho, was loaned from Fluminese and midfielder Jonathan da Silveria Fernendes Reis comes from Botafogo. The duo will join forces with Argentine striker Hernan Barcos.
These players can perhaps fill the vacuum left by inspirational Costa Rican forward Daniel Colindres, Kyrgyz midfielder Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov and Argentine defender Nicolas Delmonte.
"Robinho and Fernandes match the characteristics of the players we wanted for their respective positions. The addition of these two will being positive results. They are young, hungry and have played at an elite level. Both of them play important positions and their style is tailor-made for the model we use," head coach Oscar Bruzon told The Daily Star. Robinho and Jonathan will get four to five weeks to forge an understanding with local players as well as Bashundhara's spearhead Barcos, who hit a hattrick against Maldives' TC Sports Club in an emphatic 5-1 win in Dhaka in March.
"We have the best set of Bangladeshi players. Many of them (12) joined our team only 11 months back. It always takes time to get to know each other, to collectively understand the team game, to grow an affinity for the club's idea. My feeling is that now we are mature and we are ready to have a "word" on the international arena," Bruzon said, adding that he was looking at the enforced break as a positive because it allowed some key players to return from injury.
"This five-month break has turned out as an opportunity for us to rebuild our team," said Bruzon. "We are starting the trainings focused on basics, emphasising on individual technical work and under a common context of fun. We have missed football for many months. Now it's the time for the players to feel the charm of the game again."
Although Bashundhra started the assessment training with the fit-again players from Tuesday, the number of players is increasing day-by-day as players are joining camp after going through Covid-19 tests. The official training will start in the first week of September and foreign recruits are also expected to join the squad in either the first or second week of September.
"Players are gradually joining the camp after being tested. We are taking these first practices to adjust and set our common ideas again in a positive environment and on a great condition training pitch. After some days, we will focus more deeply on physical work, facts and competition-oriented practice," informed Bruzon, who has guided Bashundhara to glory in the BPL, Independence Cup and Federation Cup.
Media manager Ahmed Shaaek informed that 15 players had already been tested and seven more will undergo the test today. He added that the club is likely to confirm players from the Asia quota by next week and that they are planning to fly for Maldives on September 16, seven days before the competition starts.