Sheikh Jamal’s Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi on Monday claimed that his side lost the just-concluded IFA Shield final to Indian club Kolkata Mohammedan due to bad luck.
The Dhanmondi-based club returned to Dhaka from Kolkata, India on Monday after taking part in the 118th edition of the IFA Shield, the fourth oldest domestic football competition.
Afusi said that he was disappointed with the result because he believed that if he brought the trophy home, the Bangladeshi people would have remembered him for the rest of their lives.
Sheikh Jamal lost 4-3 in penalties after the tie ended 1-1 after extra-time.
‘I believe that if I would have brought the prestigious trophy to Bangladesh then everybody would have remembered me for the rest of their lives. We failed to make history,’ Afusi told Newage at his apartment.
‘When we left, nobody in Bangladesh expected us to qualify for the final. But I believed that we were not going there only for participating. I believed that we would achieve something,’ he added.
Afusi credited his players for the way they prepared themselves before the tournament got underway.
‘Before going there we trained for two weeks with six foreigners and we planned with them. But after going there we were informed that we have to play with three foreigners so it was difficult for us to adapt initially,’ said Afusi.
The 31-year old Nigerian tactician went on to say that if influential Haitian playmaker Sony Norde was not sent off, the outcome could have been different. Norde scored four goals and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
‘Tactically I believed that the [opponents] tried to provoke [Sony]. I never blame the [referee] because they are also human beings but if you watch the game from the beginning, you will see that tactically the [opponents] wanted to frustrate him and they were successful,’ said Afusi.
‘If [Sony] used his elbow in that sense referee can react but Sony didn’t hit him. Due to his reaction I personally believed that he did not deserve the red card.
‘It’s my first experience and I would not say it’s a bad one. It’s a very good experience for me because I did not believe that I could compete internationally. My players have been playing good,’ he said.
Afusi also reserved praise for Sheikh Jamal president Monjur Kader for his support throughout the tournament.
‘President did more than his best. Our first game we lost [2-1 against Kolkata Mohammedan]. Then he came to the hotel and motivated the boys and gave incentives. We then played [United] Sikkim and we won the match and we again got incentives. And after winning the matches against Mohun Bagan and East Bengal we got bonus,’ said Afusi.
‘I said that if you have three Monjur Kaders then the football will be exceptional because football is all about money and he made the exception,’ he added.
-With New Age input
