We deserved to win: Cabrera 

Bangladesh national football team coach Javier Cabrera asserted that his team deserved to win against a much stronger Kuwait in their semifinal clash in the ongoing SAFF Championships 2023 at the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium on Saturday.

Cabrera's troops managed to play out of their skin against 141-ranked Kuwait in their bid to reach their first final in the competition in 18 years but a low-driven strike from Kuwait right-back A.A.M.A.AI Baloushi in the closing stages of the first half of extra-time ended Bangladesh's hopes as they succumbed to a 1-0 loss.

"We deserved the win. Maybe the opposing coach will say the same. We made three-four adjustments yesterday and had one session to adjust. It is unbelievable the way they executed. It was amazing. I think we deserved to win, so I am disappointed. But proud of their performance," Cabrera said in the post-match press conference.

Bangladesh could have taken the lead in the second minute had Sheikh Morsalin not shot straight at the Kuwaiti goalkeeper after getting a square pass from Rakib Hossain, who himself was later denied by the crosspiece and then goalkeeper Abdul Rahman Marzouq.

"We created chances against a team which is the number one team in the tournament. They topped their group and are unbeaten in seven-eight games. Nobody was expecting to do well today, but we were about to qualify for the final. Over the 90 minutes, we had a first-minute chance. We were not able to push them more in the second half, but I don't think they got more chances. There is absolutely nothing to tell to the players except to take positives from the game," added Cabrera, who outshone previous coaches like Nikola Ilievski, Maruful Haque, Lodewjik De Kruif, Jamie Day and Oscar Bruzon by taking Bangladesh to the semifinals of the SAFF Championship.