The Bangladesh national hockey team suffered a 5-0 defeat against Pakistan in a practice match ahead of the Asia Cup in Malaysia on Thursday.
Coach Naveed Alam was, however, happy with his team’s performance, as he was more concerned with the team combination and strategy than the result of the match.
‘In different conditions and a different field, our boys played well against a strong opponent, Pakistan,’ Naveed told reporters via facebook.
‘We played the match with a counterattack-based strategy, but due to some individual mistakes we conceded a lot of goals,’ he added.
The Pakistani coach thinks that playing more practice matches against strong opponents like Pakistan would benefit the national side’s preparation for the Asia Cup.
Mamunur Rahman Chayan, the captain of the Bangladesh team, agreed.
‘We concentrated more on our own game and style and not so much on the margin of defeat, as everybody knew that the Pakistan team was stronger than us,’ he said.
Bangladesh will be in Group B at the Asia Cup, along with South Korea, India and Oman. They will start their campaign on August 25 against South Korea.
-With New Age input
