With just 11 days away from playing their first World Cup qualifiers match against Kyrgyzstan, the fitness level of the Bangladeshi players were a worrying sight in the 1-2 defeat to Singapore at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The 4pm kick-off under hot and humid conditions saw both the teams struggle to hold on their breath which clearly indicated Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Bangladesh’s first two opponents in the qualifiers who are generally accustomed playing in cooler weather, will find it difficult to settle in their away matches in Dhaka in a 3pm start.
The heat wave across the country also resulted in empty stands as fans showed up in very lesser numbers compared to the previous international matches at the Bowl.
“Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan already asked BFF to reschedule because they know they will suffer. I also prefer to play at 5 or 6pm with a packed stadium. Everybody will come from work and football is much easier with 30-35,000 crowd,” said Bangladesh’s head coach Lodewijk de Kruif. “Overall, I’m not happy with everybody (the players). I’m okay with 80% of the players but we have to work on tactics and physics of the players so that everyone can play 90 minutes.”
The dominating start from the home side faded inside the half an hour mark which allowed the visitors get back in the game with an equaliser in the 31st minute. De Kruif said the players made simple mistakes and were lousy in passing and moving which allowed their opponents sneak ahead.
