Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuiyan has emphasized on self-discipline in order to maintain fitness at home during the Covid-19 pandemic and showed mixed feelings toward the Bangladesh Football Federation’s decision to abandon the Bangladesh Premier League 2019-20 season.
“Whole world is facing same problem. Most of the countries are facing lockdown. We are also in same situation. As a footballer or as an individual, what I do is, I always think about how can I make or convert this situation into positive outcome. I should try to turn the negative things to positive or what can I do to make myself better,” said Jamal during the debut episode of Dhaka Tribune Locker Room Monday night.
“So instead of complaining about the coronavirus situation, you can just play or train by yourself. You can play with one or two of your friends. I mean you can still be active. But of course it is more about the self-discipline which is most important,” continued the midfielder from his birthplace Denmark.
“If you don’t have it in your life then you cannot succeed as a player. If you see Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, if we see all the big players they all maintain self-discipline very strongly. They all work out in home. They know they have to do it and maintain it, because if you don’t follow it then how can you convert yourself into a very good player or great player?”
Jamal said he has been practicing in the morning and doing gym at night to keep his fitness level up during the pandemic as there has been no games in two months.
The BFF called the 2019-20 season off Sunday which means there will unlikely be any domestic fixture in the next four months at least.
Jamal commented about season abandonment, “Mixed feelings because every footballer wants to play. We only played six games, we didn’t even get through the first leg. Every footballer wants to play. We have to respect BFF and clubs’ decision.
“Clubs suffer because they want to keep going and players want to stay. In this situation, we have nothing to do. It’s frustrating for both players and clubs.”
The Saif Sporting captain also recalled the memories of the valiant draw against India during the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualifier in Kolkata on October 15 last year where Saad Uddin headed in Jamal’s setpiece to give Bangladesh the lead.
World Cup qualifying fixtures are postponed indefinitely but Jamal hopes to beat the neighbor in the home leg at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
“Kolkata was like home to me. Most people in Kolkata was speaking Bengali. It will be little bit different in Dhaka. It’s hard for other teams to travel Dhaka and play. We have great opportunity to win against India at home,” said Jamal.