National football team head coach Andrew Ord criticised Bangladesh players' physical condition, lack of concentration and mentality of losing the game even before it starts after watching his U-23 charges concede three defeats in Palestine.
Having been placed in Group E, Bangladesh lost all their three matches against stronger opponents in the AFC U-23 Championship 2018 Qualifiers, leaking 13 goals and scoring only one.
But the men in red and green showed signs of improvement in the last game against group champion Palestine, despite losing 3-0.
“Unfortunately I would have to say at the moment Bangladesh is not anywhere near competitive at this level. The first match we were beaten mentally before we even kicked a ball due to previous results. Against Tajikistan it really showed giving 100% is not enough to get you over the line if you are not in professional physical condition,” said Ord after the end of campaign.
An action during the match between Palestine U23 and Bangladesh U23 on Sunday
He added, “Lastly the improvements in the Palestine game were huge but two goals were conceded from set pieces after we had dedicated a lot of training time to this area. Concentration and having the responsibility to do a job for the team are normal in international football but it's a demand that has never been placed on our players before.
Also read: Bangladesh U23 finish with 3-0 loss against hosts Palestine
“The way the players are training and the professionalism they are exposed to is nowhere near acceptable and until we fix this we will never be able to compete against stronger opponents. Also from talking to the players I now realise that Bangladesh are in a cycle of losing and they are going out onto the pitch expecting defeat before we even start.
“We have to start again with youth. There is no reason why a Bangladeshi cannot become a top player if the environment is right. The pool of players is far too small. We don't have any match winning players who can make the difference in international football.
“There is going to be no quick road to the top, it will take everyone involved in football to make a big commitment. The players did not have the basic fundamentals that you need and it gets brutally exposed when you play against nations like this. Remember it was just a qualifying tournament, the level is much higher as you progress through to the next stage. Young players developed properly are the key.”