New coach, same old promise

Bangladesh national football team head coach Javier Cabrera, ahead of his first assignment which is a FIFA friendly against Maldives on March 24, delivered the same old promise of doing well.

Bangladesh have seen a musical chair affair with their head coach position in the last few months. After Jamie Day’s sacking, Bashundhara Kings manager Oscar Bruzon was appointed for the SAFF Championship in October 2021, before Dhaka Abahani manager Mario Lemos took charge for the four-nation tournament in Sri Lanka.

Finally, Bangladesh Football Federation landed on Cabrera, who had no experience of managing a national team.

And ahead of his first match as a national team head coach, he delivered the same age-old promise of Bangladesh coaches about being convinced of doing well.

“I am very happy and feel that we are on the right track. We will have to give our best on the training field before travelling to Maldives. I am really convinced that we can do something good there,” he said in a press conference in Dhaka on Monday.

Despite the promises, Bangladesh fell short in all of their recent tournaments. In the SAFF Championship, a last-minute draw against Nepal meant they missed out on the final, and a defeat against Sri Lanka in the last group stage match, courtesy of a late penalty, resulted in the same fate in the four-nation tournament.

Cabrera though is seeing clear improvement in the national team’s ongoing training camp, which is being held at the Bashundhara Kings Arena.

“We are seeing real improvement and progress in the training sessions. The players are very responsible individually in terms of nutrition, recovery and gym sessions, and their commitment is helping us improve,” the Spanish coach said.

He added, “We have trained for two and half days, and it has been very positive. We have planned for a couple of months on what we want to do in this camp and we have had meetings with everyone- the players, the management and of course the technical staff. We have discussed the process of achieving our objectives.”

Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan said the coach had a clear idea, and the difference will be evident on the pitch.

“Since the first day, he has been very clear on how he wants us to play. There are a few changes and he told us exactly what he wants and that is very important. You will get to see the changes on the field,” Jamal said on Monday.

Bangladesh have won only five out of their 14 matches against Maldives. In the SAFF Championship, Maldives comfortably beat Bangladesh 2-0, and one of their scorers was veteran striker Ali Ashfaq.

But in the last clash between the sides in the four-nation tournament in Sri Lanka, Ashfaq was in the side, but Bangladesh managed to break their 18-year-old drought against Maldives to beat them 2-1.

Jamal is taking inspiration from that win in Sri Lanka.

“Ali Ashfaq is a big player for Maldives. He has been one of the best players for them in the last 10 years. The last time we faced off, he was in the team, but we still won. We don’t want to focus much on Ali,” he said.

In the SAFF Championship in Maldives, Bangladesh fans were reportedly not allowed to attend the match between the sides. Jamal hopes that things will change on March 24.

“This time, I hope the Maldives authority will allow Bangladeshi fans into the stadium. It was upsetting last time around, not having our fans inside the stadium. We want to have their support. If this issue persists, someone should have to speak to the Maldives authority,” the Bangladesh skipper said.