Not too many sports fans in Bangladesh possibly experienced what I went through on the evening of December 26.
It was pure helpless rage mixed with total dejection that later developed into a splitting headache, leaving me almost awake for most of the night. In the moments that I dozed off, the image of an ignominious exit from the SAFF Football in Trivandrum kept on assailing me.
Those who did not have to face the pain possibly gave up hope of achieving anything in football a long time ago.
They are the smart ones.
Cricket is there, and the signs of progress in the game clearly state Bangladesh will be a world champion in about 10 years. On the other hand, football, at this stage, is a game that has lost even the most die-hard optimistic supporters.
Once more the team comes back from the regional meet, heads bowed down, eliminated from the first round, when in the 80s and 90s any regional meet meant a final featuring Bangladesh and India.
While the latter has managed to maintain some semblance of momentum in the game, we are lost even from a tournament, aptly touted the lowest as far as quality is concerned.
Afghanistan, the highest ranked team here, had a disastrous World Cup qualification round, conceding six goals against another war-torn country, Syria. Yet, at the recent SAFF tournament, they have produced a comprehensive show so far, proving that whatever the result in other meets, for the regional competition, they have adopted a resolute approach.
I believe the same tone of conviction was heard from our boys, which failed to be translated on the field. Lacklustre, nervous, fragile, and timid are the words that come to mind.
Anyway, we all know the game is at its lowest -- the coach has admitted it and the players have shown on the field that they simply cannot play for and come back with a win.
At this stage, what is needed is a complete shake-up of our entire football management. This means shuffling in the current board. This leadership hasn’t given us anything, only a slide into humiliation.
What is most disturbing is the slap-dash manner in which the coaches were appointed and sacked. In fact, questions do rise as to the quality of the people in charge of the national team. A flying Dutchman was appointed (he spent most of his time abroad), sacked and reappointed in some Byzantine drama, followed by a fledgling Italian who went into baffling, often outrageous, experiments.
While results became worse, the standard line from management and the bombastic captain, Mamunul, was that the main target is SAFF. So, now that the team has had an early exit from the regional meet, what other excuse will be presented one wonders. Mamunul has been mollycoddled all along, with epithets like “mid-fielder extraordinaire” showered on him. On the field, I have never seen him in any form that left a lasting impression.
He made serious blunders in the match against the Maldives, took corners like a school boy, and lost control even at the slightest rough tackle.
The team went without a reliable striker. In fact, there is no marksman in the outfit with experience. The folly of not giving nationality to three African players to salvage some urgently-needed wins comes back to haunt us.
“This is not a long-term solution,” bellowed some former footballers, adding, with ferocity, “we need to create more players from the grass-roots.”
Their point is valid but nurturing a player with the skills required for international matches is a long process, especially in a time when football is no longer a sport to pursue.
Living even under the shadow of hockey, football is hardly the career choice of young boys aiming to make a life in sports. Despite alleged mismanagement and low pay, hockey has consistently provided us with admirable results, with a recent age-level win against Asian giants South Korea.
At such a critical juncture, the immediate need was to get some results and boost the morale of players.
This would have happened if the foreign players had been included.
While they (naturalised foreigners) played for a few years, efforts could be made to build new players from the bottom.
A series of defeats in the World Cup qualifiers plus the recent debacle in SAFF mean a revamping has to be done in the whole management. Sacking coaches after a short period and then appointing some unknown person hurriedly is not the answer.
Also, awards need to be announced before each tournament; invoking patriotism is a standard method but in a world where money reigns, cash prizes can bring the extra effort from a player.
As for the management, I hear people calling for an immediate change. The rationale given: This board has failed to give us anything to cheer.
Bringing some youth teams in a hastily-organised tournament, publicised farcically as an international meet, and then giving an easy route to the national team to the finals is deliberately pushing fervent fans into an ephemeral illusion.
Yes, as for illusions, the much talked/ridiculed vision 2022 of playing in the World Cup comes to mind. Our World Cup is the SAFF. Win that first, stop talking rubbish in the heat of the moment. Our football is South Asia-centric; in the game’s prime we dominated the SAFF, let’s regain that.
Enough said, that blasted headache is coming back.