National football team’s Dutch coach Lodewijk De Kruif was not satisfied with the performance of the players in the second practice match against a select BFF XI on Saturday
before finalising his 25-member squad for the upcoming Thailand tour.
Before the practice match, in which the national team managed a 4-2 win over BFF XI, Kruif was supposed to name the final squad but after observing the last half hour of the match he was frustrated with the performance of the players.
`Maybe it’s due to a lack of quality or concentration, I don’t know. They surprised
me with their performance in the last 30 minutes. The first 60 minutes was very important and the last 30 minutes was very irritating,’ said Kruf after the practice match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
`First sixty minutes was good. They performed very well what we trained and what we talked about at the pre-match meeting. They did what we expected and you see the result,’ he added.
National team’s veteran forward Zahid Hasan Amely scored a brace after Ariful Islam had opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Sohel Rana ensured a 4-0 lead before halftime. Uttar Baridhara’s striker Md Jibon reduced the margin with two goals in the second half as Kruif made eight substitutions after the resumption.
`The way we want to play and the tactical plans we have, it fits Amely wonderfully,’ said Kruif about the performance of Amely.
`I had an idea of making a 23 or 24-man squad but after seeing the last 30 minutes I will have to think about it tonight before I sleep,’ informed the Dutch coach.
-With New Age input
