Footballers eye SAFF glory after winless Kyrgyzstan tour

Bangladesh national football team players returned from their Kyrgyzstan tour on Friday midnight after they lost all three matches of the three nations cup.

Despite losing the matches, the footballers are convinced that they have learned some good lessons ahead of SAFF Championship, starting from October 1 in Maldives.

Bangladesh lost to the Kyrgyzstan U-23 team in their last match of the tour by 3-2 despite Sumon Reza scoring an early goal.

Suman scored in the 11th minute of the game to earn the lead but Bangladesh could not hold on to the advantage as they conceded two goals in the next 20 minutes (24th and 28th).

In the second half, Bangladesh also conceded another goal in the 58th minute. Suman scored another goal to make it 3-2, but finally, the red and greens could not find an equalizer.

Goalkeeper Mitul Marma, who made his debut in this tour, told the media after arriving in Dhaka that despite losing all the games, the team had good preparations for SAFF Championship.

“We considered these matches as preparation for doing something good in the SAFF championship. It was my first international tour; it was very important for me. We tried to do well as the SAFF championship coming up, a camp might start soon. We are preparing for the SAFF tournament, focusing on that,” said the Uttar Baridhara goalkeeper.

Suman, who scored a brace against the Kyrgyzstan U-23 team, is also hoping to do better against South Asian rivals.

“We wanted to win the last match. Unfortunately, we lost by 3-2 goals. The coach will be working with the errors and will try to fix those, this is how we will be gearing up for the SAFF Championship,” said Suman, who is also from Uttar Baridhara.

Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin went to Kyrgyzstan to inspire the footballers, but they lost to Palestine and the national and Olympic team of the hosts.

Jamal Bhuyan and his men will begin their SAFF mission on 1 October against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh have failed to advance beyond the group stage since 2009.