Ever since making his international bow in the 2013 Saff Championship, Jamal Bhuiyan has established himself as one of the most integral members of the Bangladesh football team set-up. During these two years, he rarely missed a game and has been regarded in many quarters as the best defensive midfielder in South Asia.
In order to spend more time and build up a strong rapport with his teammates, the 25-year old Denmark-based midfield enforcer joined premier league champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the end of last year.
Like several of his teammates, Jamal faced a lot of difficulties putting behind the 5-0 loss against Australia in the 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qualifier last Thursday at NIB Stadium in Perth. And while facing the media yesterday afternoon during their practice session ahead of the Jordan clash tomorrow, he made no attempt to hide his emotions. He minced no words and looked rather ambitious to put the record straight against the Jordanians.
Here are the excerpts:
The Australia match
Australia was a big loss for us because we conceded four goals in one half. I wanted to cry because I never had this big loss before. I wanted to shout. I wanted to cry. But this loss gives me motivation. It gives me spirit to come back stronger and to do a better performance. It was not good against Australia. Some people say, ‘Oh, they are number one in Asia and Bangladesh is what, 170, while Australia is 60th (61st in the Fifa rankings). But, I’m not happy.
Lessons learned from the 5-0 defeat
The tactics, the technique, the fitness, the speed; it was a huge lesson for us. Because they were so fit, so good with the ball. They didn’t panic when they had the ball. When a Bengali player had the ball they were like, ‘what should we do!’ So, we have a lot to improve. The game has to be better. The pitch was also very beautiful. We can’t complain about the pitch or weather. We can only complain about ourselves. We have to learn from that game. I want to take something from that game and put it into the next game because it’s the most important game for me.
Expectations on the eve of tomorrow’s Jordan encounter
We have to do better in our next game against Jordan. Everybody has to do better. We have to give Bangladesh 110 percent. A loss from here is not possible. I need points in the next game.
On the possibility of claiming points against the Jordanians
We have good advantage here in Bangladesh because this is our home ground. The climate is different from Jordan. I don’t know if they are used to playing in this kind of weather but I think most teams faced problems coming from outside to Bangladesh. Same happened to me when I came from Denmark. I couldn’t play in Bangladesh. If they have problems that’s an advantage for us. We know Jordan are a big team with strong players. But I think we, the Bengali players, learned a big lesson from Australia.
The mental situation of the players right now
I think the players are ready to show that the Australia game was a mistake. In this one year in Bangladesh, I won the King’s Cup, became second in the Bangabandhu [Gold] Cup, won the Federation Cup and reached the AFC Cup play-offs. I want to win every competition I go. I am not a loser. I want this mentality to be in every other Bengali players.
