Home ›› 19 Nov 2021 ›› Sport
The Bangladesh national football team returned to Dhaka from Sri Lanka on Thursday after missing out on the final of the four-nation Mahinda Rajapaksha tournament due to a 2-1 defeat to the hosts.
The team arrived in Dhaka at 10 AM on Thursday, and the members left for their respective destinations from the airport.
Bangladesh, who just needed a draw to qualify for the final, conceded a last-minute penalty to see themselves crash out of the group stage.
Speaking to the media upon arrival, Bangladesh head coach Mario Lemos said he was disappointed to not play in the final.
“Our goal was to reach the final, and being so close and losing the way we did, was very disappointing. I feel disappointed. I believe we could have done a little bit better. But it is what it is. We have to move on. The players tried their best. I tried my best. Hopefully, better things will happen at the next tournament,” he said.
Lemos had just three days to prepare for the tournament as he was appointed by the Bangladesh Football Federation hurriedly, and players were unwilling to play the tournament. On the first day of training for the tournament, none of the players arrived but that changed with each passing day.
Lemos said that the preparation was not ideal, but they tried their best. He said, “Of course the more time you have with the team, the better. I would be lying if I said three days were enough. We tried our best to prepare in three days. I think we were very, very, very close. But that’s football. We were very close, but not enough.”
Bangladesh forward Suman Reza said that it was their failure to not reach the final, and they will be working on their finishing,
“We could not get expected results. We will try to do better in the future. We will work on our finishing so that we don’t face these situations again. It was our failure that we could not play in the final,” he said.
