Bangladesh football team want to take the positives from the defeat against Lebanon in their opening fixture of SAFF Bangabandhu Championship 2023 and are focusing on team bonding ahead of the crucial tie against the Maldives Sunday.
Javier Cabrera's side took part in a training session at Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools Arena in Bengaluru Friday after which the Spanish tactician talked to the reporters about the performance against Lebanon.
When asked if the players are demoralized after the 2-0 loss, he replied instantly, “Everyone is motivated and excited. Right now from the experience of Lebanon game, we are better team than the day before and that's what we take from the game against Lebanon. That gives us more chances against the Maldives.
“The plan went as we expected. We were going to have chances in the counters. They were going to have high line and we had to take the advantage. We did very well and we missed some one-on-one chances that could have meant getting three points.”
Replying to another query, Cabrera said, “Obviously we have to improve and we have to keep working on that. We got the chances to win against a very strong team. You can take the negative and you can take the positive. We take the positive.”
The 38-year old coach felt that they were “very close” to acquiring three points against Lebanon before conceding two goals in the last 17 minutes initiated by a blunder by defender Tariq Kazi.
“When you are that close the disappointment is normal but now is the moment to take the positives. We want to take positive parts, that we faced top-100 team in the world, and that should give us strength and energy to achieve the objective to face the Maldives and Bhutan next.”
Maldives are not only ranked higher but also boast better head-to-head record in recent years but Cabrera is determined to beat the South Asian counterparts.
He said, “The mentality has to be to win. I don't understand going into the pitch with the intention of maybe one point is enough but that's not the way we are going for the game.”
Skipper Jamal Bhuiyan and midfielder Sohel Rana also spoke to the media.
Both the players labeled the next game against the Maldives as a final to survive in the competition.
“We played well against Lebanon but history repeated itself. We lost concentration in the last 15 minutes and that is why we conceded two goals. We were disappointed,” said Jamal.
He added, “Now we have to forget what happened. We are focusing on the Maldives. Everyone said before the tournament that this will be our final. We are concentrating on this match.”
Sohel also echoed the same sentiment, “We lost the first match against a team who are better than us in terms of physique and skills. Now we want to keep the team bonding. This our main target. We are not concentrating on blame game but focusing on how to get out of this and achieve a good result against the Maldives.”
