De Kruif hides behind phantom nerves

Booters of Bangladesh (in red shirts) and Malaysia are locked in an aerial battle during the opening match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament in Sylhet yesterday. Even the support of a full-house at the stadium failed to inspire Bangladesh, as the home side lost the game 1-0. Photo: FIROZ AHMED

Bangladesh coach Lodewijk de Kruif blamed the team's mental approach and a 'silly goal' while defending his decision to keep Zahid Hasan Emily for the entirety of the match, despite the striker's costly mistakes after the 0-1 defeat against Malaysia U-23 team yesterday.

The 46-year-old coach felt that it was the initial nervousness and taking too much pressure that put them on the backfoot, but felt from tactical, technical and physical aspects, his side's performance was 'okay'.

“In the first 25 minutes, everyone was nervous as we were afraid to do our thing. The first half looked like the game against Nepal (0-1 defeat in Sylhet in August, 2014) when we came out nervous. Positive mentality is what we were lacking,” said the Dutchman at the post-match press conference, not explaining where the pressure came from.

Bangladesh survived three attempts from Malaysia in the opening half, thanks to the woodwork, as the Malaysian players tried to beat onrushing Liton with long-range attempts. Liton ultimately conceded the decisive goal in the 53rd minute when he failed to stop Muhammed Swayzan's shot from outside the box. While not explicitly blaming Liton for the mistake, de Kruif felt the goal was a silly one to concede.

“It was a silly goal to concede. It was not a hard shot and it looked like falling down all the way,” said de Kruif. However, the coach backed Emily's performance saying, “One should not point finger at an individual because it's a collective effort.”

The Dutchman, who had joined the team five days ahead of the match, also expressed his satisfaction over the second-half performance, adding that they would try to go all-out in the game against Sri Lanka on January 2.

De Kruif's opposite number, Muhammed Rajip, was visibly pleased with his team's performance ahead of his side's game against Sri Lanka in Sylhet tomorrow and gave most of the credit to his defenders for effectively shutting out Bangladesh in the second half, according to the game plan.

“My players played very well. They could have scored three goals. But once we got the goal, we tried to maintain the lead. I'm proud of my players the way they defended in the second half,” exclaimed Rajip.