Daffodil International University
Entertainment & Discussions => Sports Zone => Football => Topic started by: Shahriar Mohammad Kamal on September 13, 2015, 10:04:59 AM
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As the 'Dutch era' in Bangladesh football came to an end with Lodewijk de Kruif's departure, an 'Italian era' begins with the appointment of Fabio Lopez. The 42-year-old Roman, although very new in Bangladesh and appointed for a four-month period initially, has already formed some ideas about the national team and the problems facing it. Here, the Italian discusses his plans about the Bangladesh team and his football philosophy with The Daily Star's Anisur Rahman.
The Daily Star: Since this your first assignment as head coach of a national team, how challenging do you it will be for you to accomplish your aim?
Fabio Lopez: The national team looks like a club team because the season in here is over and I will get the players for four months. I have the experience of coaching in Asia, so I don't think I need to adapt to the culture here. Bangladesh is very similar to Maldives, Malaysia and Indonesia where I have coached before.
DS: What do you think is the speciality of Asian football?
FL: About Malaysia in particular and Asian football in general, the one thing I can say is that they are lagging behind in tactical skills and fitness. Many clubs don't even have a fitness coach. Even those who do, have an athletics coach but not a football fitness coach. We work with different specialist football fitness coaches. The fitness coach who is coming here has worked with Lazio and has very good knowledge on football.
DS: The results achieved by Bangladesh's former foreign coaches is mixed. What according to you are the components of success?
FL: Success takes time. I can't say what the solution is. Normally you must be ready to adapt to the country's culture. Every coach has a different methodology. I personally study everything very well. I even study how the players look at me on the field, how their feeling is towards me. I am also very disciplined. If you want to become a professional at a certain level, you must have to be disciplined. I will have a list. If they don't follow it, they will be penalised. Because we are representing the country, we are not here for a visit.
DS: In the last decade, Bangladesh have had problems finding a good striker. Can you bring a change in this aspect?
FL: It is not always necessary for the strikers to score. If we don't have strikers who can score, we must find another way. That's our job. It is not only in your country that foreign strikers are taking places of local strikers. This is a problem all over the world. Thailand and Malaysia face the same problem. I think it is just about the work done at the clubs. If the players are good in Bangladesh, they will get chances.
DS: Will you have any special training for the strikers?
FL: We have special and individual training for strikers after the normal training sessions. I had faced such problems in Lithuania. I had a 20-day training session with one striker and after that, he had struck 22 goals. The training works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. But we will have special training.
DS: You said that Bangladesh were tactically poor against Australia and Jordan. What do you think about their technique?
FL: I can't understand the technical skills of the Bangladeshi players. Against Australia, we did not touch the ball and did not see where the ball was. Against Jordan, the grass was so bad and we threw the ball 20 meters away every time.
DS: Can you name any player from Bangladesh who impressed you?
FL: No. But potentially the number 6 (Jamal Bhuiyan) looked good. He is a fighter and I saw a strong personality in him. I hope we can produce a surprise and wish I can make a difference.
[Coll.]