Brothers Union’s Indian coach Syed Naeemuddin looked content after his team’s giant killing act against Sheikh Russell at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. His counterpart Maruful Haque, who missed six of his regular players due to injury, initially pointed out wasting the chances as the main cause behind his loss, but also blasted the referee for his poor handling of the match.
Naeemuddin said it was the total teamwork of his boys that paid the reward. “Before the match the message to the players was to unsettle the midfield of Russell and not to provide them many free spaces. I am happy to see the boys work hard to earn their first win and also the points,” said the Indian football legend.
Naeemuddin also thought that luck favoured them and said, “I feel we were also lucky as Russell came close on a number of occasions, but we kept our head cool and when we struck in a crucial time, I always believed that Brothers Union overall is a good team but still we are going through the preparation process, today’s victory is the start of the long journey.”
Maruf, however, thought the defeat would not hamper his title aspirations as the league will be 27-match affair. “I missed French Maxim, Uruguayan Francisco, defender Rajani, Mamun Mia, midfielder Shakil and midfielder Imrul Hasan due to injury, however we created a number of chances but could not avail it, the defeat, I think would not do much damage as it is a long league and all the teams will have to go through these handicaps,” said Maruf.
However, Maruf, who has never been vocal against the referees, slammed the referee in an unusual gesture. “I would like to say that the refereeing was very inconsistent, my opponents physical approach was overlooked by him, he also denied us a penalty, the inconsistent refereeing unsettled my players throughout the match, the goal was also a result of that as Anwar, the marker of the zone was yellow carded for shouting.
“He wanted the decision of a foul that the referee did not provide” said Maruf who guided Russell to three titles last year.
The teenager who changed the fate of the game, Rubel Miah, said, “I saw the post and thought of taking a full-fledged shot.” The forward, who was the scorer of the winning goal against Kuwait last year in the AFC U-19 Championships in Iraq, added that he “enjoyed the strike.”
