Football fans in Bangladesh were left bleeding in their hearts on Tuesday after Bangladesh national team suffered a humiliating 1-3 loss to lowly Bhutan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying play-off in Thimpu.
The first ever defeat to Bhutan in nine meetings on Monday put Bangladesh in danger of missing out of any significant international match in next three-years, prompting call Bangladesh’s current football administrators to quit from many corners.
Most of the fans vented their anger and disappointment in social media which were awash with comments about how inefficiency of current administrators, led by Kazi Salahuddin, took Bangladesh’s football in terminal decline.
Salahuddin was holding the chair of Bangladesh Football Federation president for nearly nine years during which he could not produce a single player who could help Bangladesh compete at the South Asian level, alleged the fans.
The lack of talent was evident in the fact when coach Tom Seintfiet had to rely on aging Zahid Hasan Ameli, Enamul Haque for goals, which was very hard to come by.
After a drab draw in the home-leg against the same opponents, the coach also had to recall wayward, Mamunul Islam, who failed to show minimum respect to the cause of national team in recent past despite being its captain.
As an obvious outcome Bangladesh struggled against a side, which was lagging at least four places behind them in FIFA rankings.
A group of football fans gathered before the BFF house in Motijheel to express their feeling after the utter humiliation in Thimpu.
They carried different placards, which could only portray the current status of Bangladesh football.
One such placard read, ‘BFF is rotten, football is dead,’ while other read, ‘congratulations Salahuddin, we are heading towards 200,’ referring to Bangladesh’s ever declining rankings.
Former national footballers also expressed their shock.
‘It is not acceptable that the footballers, who have been earning millions of money from the domestic circuit, lose to a team like Bhutan’, said former midfielder Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu.
‘To be frank, I don’t want to introduce myself as a footballer.’
Former national captain Jewel Rana believes that Bangladesh would not have lost to Bhutan if they had proper planning.
‘It is painful for me as a former footballer but I believe the standard of Bangladesh football has not gone to a level where we would lose to Bhutan by such a comprehensive margin,’ he said.
‘I think there was lack of proper plan and tactics as our footballers are not fit for the hit-and-run football and the players don’t have that physic and techniques to pick up this type of style within a few days,’ said Jewel, who guided the national team to win the SAF Games gold medal in 1999.
Source: New Age
