A dejected Lodewijk de Kruif, head coach of Bangladesh, revealed yesterday he does not have any clue as to why his charges perform differently in a match in comparison with their training sessions.
The Dutch coach was speaking to the media after Bangladesh’s 5-0 loss against Uzbekistan as the hosts conceded nine goals in two AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers. “We have conceded six of the [nine] goals from set-pieces and I cannot understand the players. I have showed the videos to them, told them how to act and also react. They responded well in the analytical sessions but appear totally different in the pitch. Actually, there were no problems before the match,” said De Kruif yesterday.
“I think it can happen due to a lack of concentration, a lack of standard of playing in the top level and two mistakes in the initial 12 minutes and two goals conceded. The game is destroyed there. Two silly mistakes by Rayhan [Hasan], [Atiqur Rahman] Fahad and Sohel [Rana] and the team never got the rhythm back,” he added.
On the other hand, Uzbekistan coach Bakhtiyor Ashurmatov thought his team should have scored more goals. “We played well in the first half but the sending off on a forward spilled the plans. I think we would have scored another three goals. I rested six players as I have different players and we have to play three matches in five days,” said Bakhtiyor.