Bangladesh Olympic team’s performance in four matches of the Asian Games 2018 would be an inspiration for the senior national team, ahead of the Saff Championship, scheduled to kick off in Dhaka on September 4.
Along with the three senior booters, most of the U-23 players in the Asiad squad are also part of the national team and the youngsters’ memorable journey throughout the Asian Games was praised by the other senior players, who trained and stayed together till the last game.
Bangladesh’s performance in the Asiad might be a wake-up call for the other South Asian countries in that the men in red and green wouldn’t be the same like they used to be in the last three editions.
“We are the second worst team in Saff, in terms of ranking. That’s how it is. So for us to be one of the favourites in Saff is a big statement,” said Jamie Day after the game against North Korea yesterday.
“You’ve got big teams in Saff. Our expectations will change since the boys have done well here. But we will be playing against teams who are ranked higher than us,” he added.
It’s now Day’s job to integrate the Asiad playing squad with the rest of the senior players in order to get the best out of them at the Saff Championship where the BFF earlier set their initial target of reaching the final for the first time in 13 years.
“So for me, if we can repeat this performance, then we’ll be ok. I’m not saying we’re going to do this and do that but we want to cross the group stage and then reassess from there,” he said.
“We are a fairly young group and some of us have never played in Saff before. I think it will be a different competition from this (Asian Games),” he added.
