Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera lauded his team’s valiant effort against India following a draw in their AFC Asian Cup third-round qualifier here on Tuesday.
The Bengal Tigers, ranked 59 spots below India, held the host to a goalless draw, the first since 1999.
“The mentality of the whole team was huge today, the way we defended set-pieces against one of the best teams in Asia has been huge,” Cabrera told reporters after the match.
Bangladesh started pressing high up the pitch from the beginning and almost scored 15 seconds into the game. Though India improved its play after the restart, it could not dominate the proceedings like it did against Maldives six days ago.
“In the end, India is a good team with quality players, and it’s normal that they would start pushing in the second half. But still, we managed the situation very well,” Cabrera added.
“Defending in our half, they were not comfortable, never in the game, and so that. So yeah, I think we are happy with the performance, regardless of the previous results that we were doing in the final minutes.”
The 40-year-old was all praises for Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury, who made his international debut on Tuesday.
Playing as a No. 8 (central midfielder) in the first half and a No. 6 (defensive midfielder) in the second, his presence proved to be monumental around India’s forwards.
He staved off Liston Colaco with a firm challenge in the 48th minute and then blocked Sunil Chhetri’s header nine minutes later.
“Hamza is not only about his quality on the pitch; it’s about what he instils in the team, the confidence he gives them. Having him next to you makes you more confident and feels safer,” Cabrera said.
“That’s what we saw today. He reads the game very well. Sometimes, in the second half especially, he was helping the centre-backs drop in between, but again, his quality allows him to make those kinds of decisions, and he did very well.”
Bangladesh, the lowest-ranked team in its qualifying group, is level with all three teams, India, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore, who have a point each. The group winner will secure a spot in the AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia two years later.
Cabrera feels the result against India, the top seed in the group, will prove to be a great incentive to perform better in the qualifiers.
“I think we will compete very well in the Asia Cup qualifiers at home, especially now. We have to go to the next level in this group of the Asia Cup,” he added.
Bangladesh will play its next two qualifying games at home, against Singapore (June 10) and Hong Kong (October 9).
It has qualified for the Asian Cup just once, in 1980, where it lost all four matches, finishing at the bottom of its group.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com