Bangladesh’s national team has long struggled with conceding late goals, and their opening SAFF championship match on Thursday against Lebanon served as a timely reminder.
Despite recent poor performances, Bangladesh showed signs of improvement and created optimism for a comeback against Lebanon, but defensive errors from Tariq Kazi and debutant Isa Faisal led to the team’s demise.
In last year’s Asian Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia, under the direction of Javier Cabrera, Bangladesh fought back from a goal deficit to tie the game with a goal from Mohammad Ibrahim. They were bound for a draw, but an identical error allowed their opponent to score a decisive second goal in the 77th minute.
Bangladesh was unable to compete in the finals of the 2021 SAFF Championship and the four-nation Mahinda Rajapaksa Gold Cup in Sri Lanka due to similar defensive lapses.
In the final match of the Rajapaksa Gold Cup, Bangladesh needed a draw against Sri Lanka, who had taken the lead before Jewel Rana equalized for Bangladesh in the 71st minute. The charges of Mario Lemos appeared to be on track for the final, but Saad Uddin handled the ball inside the box in stoppage time to concede a penalty, which Wassem Razzak converted to deny Bangladesh a spot in the final.
After 16 years, the men in red and green needed to defeat Nepal in Male in order to qualify for the final. Bangladesh’s hopes were dashed after Saad Uddin’s foul on a Nepalese forward resulted in a penalty and Saad Uddin’s press on a Nepalese forward resulted in a Bangladesh penalty.
Lodewijk De Kruif’s ad hoc work with the national team and guidance from a number of local and foreign head coaches did not entirely cure the team’s finish-line jitters after he assumed leadership in 2013.
Both Australian coach Andrew Ord and English coach Jamie Day placed a premium on maintaining a compact defense, and the rate of late goals conceded appeared to have decreased.
“I believe the issue is a lack of concentration as opposed to a technical one. This issue was partially resolved in the past, but it is now occurring again. Tapu Barman, a defender, told The Daily Star prior to training on Friday, “I believe we need to concentrate more in such situations.”
Former national defender and assistant coach Hasan Al Mamun has no explanation for such defensive turnovers.
“I believe they were careless at the time and made errors. Hasan stated, “You have nothing to say if our greatest defender Tariq commits so many turnovers.