Bangladesh coach Naveed Alam refused to predict anything big ahead of the qualifying round of the Asian Hockey Games, scheduled to get underway from Saturday in Dhaka.
Rather, the coach from Pakistan desires to do all the talking on the pitch as Bangladesh would want to put behind their disappointing performances in recent times.
‘We have a mixture of young and experienced players and we are preparing very well but I don’t want to say anything before the tournament as my goal is to prove ourselves on the field,’ said Naveed on Tuesday.
Four national players – Russell Mahmud Jimmy, Zahid Hossain, Emran Hasan Pintu and Kamruzzaman Pintoo – will be missing from the set-up due to suspension. The quartet were suspended for their undisciplined behaviour during the Asia Cup in Malaysia last year.
Veteran player Moshiur Rahman Biplob will also miss the qualifying round due to an injury which he incurred in the Premier League recently.
The hosts will face Singapore, Hong Kong and Iran in Group A while Oman, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei and Qatar make up Group B.
Bangladesh finished a disappointing seventh in the eight-team Asia Cup and Naveed said that they could not wait for the qualifying round to start.
‘The whole situation was different that time. Now we are united as a team and everybody is eager to do something for the country,’ said Naveed.
‘We are looking to the future and we will treat each match as a final.
We want to establish ourselves in the international level.’
-With New Age input
