‘A new beginning’

Those days are gone. Those who once saw the best of Bangladesh football often express their frustration over the dire state of the game. For youngsters, meanwhile, stories of the huge popularity of football during the sport’s glory days from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s must sound like fairytales.

This gloomy backdrop may finally see some illumination following the recent performances of the national team under the guidance of Jamie Day, particularly the last battle against India that came hot on the heels of an impressive show at home against the formidable Qatar. Bangladesh played a superb game against India and were distinctly unlucky not to take yesterday’s flight back home with three points.

Three leading local coaches -- Maruful Haque, Saiful Bari Titu and Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu -- lauded the Bangladesh’s performance at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday. They have termed the recent performance of the team under the tutelage of Day as a new beginning for Bangladesh football, but also urged for some caution. They believed that the return of football’s good times can only be ensured by long-term planning, a good club structure and greater focus on youth development.

“The return of the glory days will depend not just on the national team’s performance,” they echoed this common sentiment.

“The plan and strategy is being chalked out according to our strength and the opponent’s strength. This is a significant improvement,” said Mintu. “Of course, it’s a new beginning but we have to take the proper initiatives to make it sustainable. Education of coaches is most important because at the grassroots level, where you have to spot new talent, we have to rely on local coaches,” he added.

“I found two areas where Bangladesh made significant progress. One is fitness and the other is the change in mentality. It’s a really good sign that the team was not fearful of conceding a goal and instead tried to perform their best… fear was not an issue, which is fantastic,” said Maruful.

“But we should understand that our technique is very poor. If the technique was good, then [Nabib Newaj] Jibon would not have missed two goals and it was not just Jibon. This team will fight, play well but don’t get any results and they will suffer outside the SAFF region, so I cannot be too optimistic. We have to work on technique at the age level, otherwise we will not be able to make any sustainable progress,” he opined.

Titu however gave credit to national coach Day. “It was not just against India, but Day has always chalked out plans according to the capacity of the Bangladesh players and their ability and he set a particular style for the boys. He also emphasised on stamina, fitness and some other basic issues. He also placed emphasis on off-field issues like food habits. He has been playing a great role in transforming the team into a unit.”

“I think whether the glory days will return depends not just on the national team, but also the role of the clubs. No doubt the national team’s results are important to generate interest among the supporters but we have to strengthen the club structure if we want to make a difference,” Titu suggested.