Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif took charge of the national football team on Saturday, hoping to do well in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, starting on January 29.
\nKruif arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning.
\nKruif met his charges before watching them practically in a one-and-a-half hour long training session in the evening, saying that he was happy with the fitness of the players.
\nWith just three days left from the kick-off of the six-nation tournament, Kruif believes that he can help the team to achieve their goal of reaching at least the semi-finals of the Cup.
\n\u2018I am satisfied with the fitness level of the players,\u2019 Kruif told reporters, who was reunited with his charges after being abruptly dismissed in October.
\nKruif claimed that he had regular contacts with the interim coach Saiful Bari Titu and the players despite being in the Netherlands, which made him optimistic to earn some good results in the competition.
\n\u2018Now I will work only during the matches as the other parts of the preparations have already been done by Titu,\u2019 said Kruif.
\n\u2018Though I joined the team at the eleventh hour, I was always in touch with Titu and the players.
\n\u2018Titu briefed me about the training sessions. So, I think my late joining will not make the team sufferer.\u2019 Kruif, however, wasn\u2019t bothered about the result of the warm-up match against Abahani.
\n\u2018I know the players very well, I know their ability. I don\u2019t want to think too much about the defeat against Abahani. It was only a practice match where experiments were made.
\n\u2018I think we can go far, even beyond the semi-finals. But we will be taking match by match,\u2019 he added.
\nNational team will play their second and final warm-up match against Bangladesh Premier League champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club today at the BKSP.
\nKruif will reduce the national squad to 25 from 28 after the match and the national team will leave BKSP for Sylhet on Monday.<\/p>\n

-With New Age<\/strong> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif took charge of the national football team on Saturday, hoping to do well in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, starting on January 29. Kruif arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning. Kruif met his charges before watching them practically in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n