A downhearted Bangladesh national football team returned home yesterday from Kathmandu after an early exit from the Saff Championship after their dreams of winning the tournament ended in pieces on Thursday after a shock defeat to Pakistan.
A 15-member Bangladesh group led by Rene Koster reached in the capital at noon, while the rest arrived in the evening with head coach Lodewijk de Kruif landed in the evening.
Both the players and the coaches attributed their early exit to injury problems and bad luck. Bangladesh lost to hosts Nepal and Pakistan and drew against India to finish bottom of their group.
The frustration of the result showed on the players’ faces at the Shajalal International Airport yesterday. Assistant coach Rene Koster believes the tournament is a lesson to take for the players.
“The players lack concentration and professionalism. Many of them didn’t play their best during the games. They have to take lessons from this tournament and build on that,” said Koster.
“We couldn’t field our best eleven in any of our matches. It makes thing harder for any coach,” added Rene.
However, Atikur Rahman Meshu disagreed. The defender said, “We the players always try our best and give 100%. It may look different from outside the pitch,” said Meshu, who scored the only goal in the match against India.
Striker Zahid Hossain Emily, who scored against Pakistan, blamed bad luck on top of injury troubles for Bangladesh’s results. “A tough group at the start following constant injuries. Things got worse with wrong decisions from the referee. Overall, luck was not with us as we couldn’t make it into the semi-finals.”
