Syed Golam Jilani is one of the first Bangladeshi coaches to obtain the AFC A license. During his 15-year coaching career, he has been mostly involved with the Bangladesh Football Federation. The 50-year old has guided a number of national age-level teams, including the women's Under-16 team in the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers last year where the young Bangladesh girls displayed beautiful, passing football. The gaffer's crowning achievement though came last Tuesday when he motivated the U-16 boys to their maiden success in the Saff U-16 Championship.
In an exclusive interview with Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Jilani, who was unable to conceal his happiness and laughter during the entirety of the candid conversation due to the recent Saff U-16 success, shared his views and playing philosophy among other issues. Here are the excerpts:
Did you expect to be champions when the tournament kicked off?
To be honest, I did not think much when the event started but there was no lack of effort on our behalf. The players gave their best effort and were determined to put up a positive display and perform well. We wanted to deliver and give the nation something to cheer about. I am extremely happy that we have claimed the title.
You prepared the team in a very short time. Did you give any common message to the players?
We did not get enough time for training so we had to prepare in other ways. I gave them a general idea as to how we want to train. I made them understand the technical and tactical aspects. The players learned my instructions by heart. They took the whole thing easily and positively.
How did you organise the squad?
Recently, the Sailor U-15 tournament was held in eight different venues across the country. From there, we selected 200 players. We cut it off to around 60. It was a challenge for us to select 32 players among them. For the trial, we got around 12-15 days. From there, we selected the very best. Before this camp, I never had the opportunity to conduct long trials. I want to thank the federation for the opportunity.
What is your future plan with these players?
Everyone is so excited at the moment. The federation has the intention of keeping them in its thoughts. If the government provides some support now and we nurture them for a long time in the academy, I will have high hopes for them. If everything goes according to plan, we will get more footballing stars like Mamunul [Islam] and [Zahid Hasan] Ameli in the future. [BFF president Kazi] Salahuddin bhai told us after the game that he does not want to give any small or insignificant prize to the team. Rather, he wants to ensure a platform for the upcoming four years. He wants us to grow and be even better. It was inspirational stuff.
The Bangladesh youngsters took their spot-kicks in the tie-breaker in the final with a lot of composure and maturity. What was the mystery behind such calmness?
With the exception of Fahim [Morshed], who is from BKSP, all the other players (Jahangir Alam Sajeeb, Atiquzzaman and Saad Uddin) are from the BFF Academy. I have been training the trio, among others, for the last eight months. We had a lot of practice sessions where we took penalties. Sometimes I offer prizes for the best penalty-takers. They gained confidence after performing the same routine hundreds of times. Still, I did not expect them to be so cool. All credit to them.
Do you think this is the most significant achievement of your career?
During the 15 years of my career, I have achieved many things with different age-level teams and also with the women's national side in 2013. But this is surely the turning point of my career and the most important one as well.
Many senior coaches had suggested me to be involved in a club career as I was one of the first coaches from Bangladesh to achieve the AFC A license but I stuck with the BFF for the best part of the last 10 years. I always wanted to do something for my country. So winning the Saff U-16 title is the best thing that could have happened to me.
