A day after his national football team’s disappointing display in their practice match on Tuesday, coach Lodewijk De Kruif blamed fatigue and said he needs to recharge his team.
The Dutch coach also criticised the Bangladesh Football Federation for its failure to arrange his family’s accommodation in due time and reacted angrily to comments about his side’s performance made on Tuesday by former national team coach Saiful Bari Titu.
The national team were held on for a surprisingly close win over a weaker BFF XI side on Tuesday, which left de Kruif very disappointed.
‘[On Tuesday] it was a very difficult match and almost everything went wrong. It was very difficult situation for a coach – where to start?,’ De Kruif said at the Bangabandhu National Stadium after the second practice session on Wednesday.
‘[The players] told me today that they were very tired and that was the reason they could not put in 100 per cent [effort]. Maybe it was 50 per cent.
‘As coach, I have to take steps to make them fit in their body and in their mind. We are preparing hard but they played a terrible match. We talked about it. The training was very good today and the players promised us and the nation that it would not happen again.’
De Kruif, however, slammed Titu for his comments and also blamed the BFF for not arranging his accommodation.
‘I saw in the newspaper that Mohammedan SC coach commented about something yesterday. It is very disappointing for me because the guy doesn’t know anything about what we are doing. I am very angry and irritated when someone attacks my team and the coaching staff.
‘There was no vacation at all. I went to meet my family and I want to settle the accommodation issue as BFF promised me. BFF told me “ok coach, you can bring you wife in the first week of July but there was nothing.” Then 15th July, still there was nothing. Then end of July, there was nothing.
‘Then I told the BFF president “listen, we can’t work like this.” Everybody knows I have a wife and a child. I heard from Rene that the apartment is still not arranged. That’s why I couldn’t bring my family. Now I hope Rene will bring my family and settle the issue,’ explained Kruif.
Meanwhile, the players, who are busy with the SAFF preparation for the last one and a half months, have informed the coach about their tiredness and so Kruif is thinking to give them rest.
‘The players are tired and we have to give them more rest, more talking sessions, more video sessions and theory session. That’s the way you recharge your players.
‘When I came to country their fitness level was not very good, that’s why we trained them very hard. Maybe that’s the reason behind their tiredness. There is nothing to worry, that’s the way to recharge the players,’ said Kruif.
-With New Age input
