‘The main steps were missing in the last 15 to 16 years which are needed to take football higher’

In recent times Bangladesh men’s national football team has been far from good. 

Where women’s national team is winning back-to-back SAFF tournaments, there men’s national teams struggle to win against comparatively weaker teams. 

Though things seemed to get better after the appointment of Javier Fernández Cabrera as the head coach but it didn’t take much time for the men’s national team to hit downfall again and again it proved the inability of the former members that were sitting at the top management of BFF for too long.  

To grow players and produce players one must look into the root levels from where a player gets shaped, looking for answers that how better players can be produced and how football can grow in Bangladesh, The Report.Live’s sports reporter Shihab Uddin Chowdhury spoke to Zahid Hassan Emily, a former player of Bangladesh men’s national team, who is the highest international goal scorer for Bangladesh till now and has also managed the U-17 national football team in the recently concluded AFC qualifier round in Cambodia.

Here are the excerpts: 
The Report: From what you have seen in Bangladesh, what kind of future lies ahead for football according to you and what should be done?

Zahid Hassan Emily: Look, people of Bangladesh have a lot dreams regarding football, but we still could not fulfill those dreams or meet those expectations. And football is the number 1 sports in the world and I think it is same in Bangladesh as well. There is no shortage of excitement or interest amongst the people of this country whenever a football match takes place and it was like this in the past, it is like this now and I believe the excitement will remain the same in the future as well. But the love and passion our country folks have for football, we could not use that to go somewhere big. So, it’s our responsibility to work and take football higher in our country and we should work towards that and those who are coming newly into management I think it is their responsibility as well. And if all of us can work shoulder to shoulder, then I think football in our country will definitely rise. In a country where 18 crore people love football so much why will that country fall behind in that sport? So, I believe if everyone gives support and works towards it than football will go to that place where it should have been in our country.   

The Report: Recently there has been some significant changes in BFF, Mr. Kazi Salahuddin has left his position and Tabith Awal has taken his place, so how are you adapting to this change, and how is this change playing out for BFF?

Zahid: The committee has just formed within a very short time; they have just come. For the last 15 or 16 years it was Salahuddin who was in charge and his period wasn’t good nor was it bad. Leaving those behind I think the new committee will think differently and generate new ideas. Because, some of the main steps were missing in the last 15 to 16 years which is needed to take football higher. No work has been done in the grassroot levels, nothing much happened in the district football or school football and there was no development in the infrastructure of football. Listen, football around the world is developed by the football clubs, and players are made in those clubs, they produce players. We could not adapt that in our country. We could not build such clubs which will produce players. We are still stuck that Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) will produce players. But actually, it is not like this, BFF will give guidelines and according to those guidelines the clubs will produce the players. And the system is like this in the whole world. I think the new committee that has come is really good, Mr. Tabith is a dynamic personality and recently after he has taken responsibility he is seen often in the field and is really involved in the game. To be honest I am really hopeful, and see last day (11 November, 2024) Bangladesh had a match against Maldives and as soon as Bangladesh lost that match Mr. Tabith went to the team hotel and he also went to BKSP, there was a welcoming ceremony arranged for the girls, he attended that so, these are positive signs. And it is not possible for him alone to do anything, there are 21 elected candidates, everyone needs to put in effort and help Mr. Tabith and I think everyone needs to work together then something can change. And at the same time, we who are veterans of this sport, we also need to help them from the outside. Everyone needs to put aside the negatives and move forward holding to the positives then we can see uprise of football in our nation.   

The Report: You were in charge of Bangladesh U-17 football team for the recently concluded AFC qualifier round in Cambodia. We can say this team and these players are the future and as per my knowledge this is the time to give shape to these raw talents, and this is the time when they receive the training which helps them to reach to the professional level. So, as you have managed them, how promising is this group of players? How much potential does these boys have?

Zahid: Shihab, let me honest with you, this team has high potential. When we had gone to play the qualifiers in Cambodia, we fell behind by only one point for which we could not qualify for the final round in Saudi Arabia. If we had just one more point then we would have qualified. We managed to get six points, and we had five teams in our group, but some groups were of four teams, so from those groups’ teams have qualified acquiring only three points and if we had seven points then we would also have qualified and our team had created that situation and we had a strong hold. In the first match we dominated the whole match but yet we lost to Cambodia, in the last match we took the lead two times against Afghanistan but yet we lost that match in the final minutes. So, I would say luck wasn’t favoring us but the players left no stones unturned and played with dedication. And as you said, this team has a lot of potential players, if I have to name a few, there is the captain Foysal, then Centre-back Morshed, Goalkeeper Alif and Arham who has come from Australia is an amazing player. And I would say these talented players will be playing for the national team one day and this team was marvelous and they had given us the hope that we will qualify for the main round of the Asian cup unfortunately luck didn’t favor us. But I think the players have shown wonderful display and this team has a lot of potential.

The Report: This is good news for the football of our nation. But what lies ahead for them, how to give them proper shape? We often see that there are many potential players in the age levels but by the time they come to the nationals or reach the senior levels their potential fades away either from injuries or because of the lack of proper nurturing. So, what should be the plan regarding these players?

Zahid: Look, if I plan for these players or team, it won’t be executed, BFF needs to make a proper plan for them. If they want my help then definitely, I will help them, and I think we should look at this team as the next national team and give that much importance and nurturing to them. Maximum of these players have come from the Elite Academy of BFF. So, I think these players have come this far by playing but after reaching the U-17 nationals many players have gone wherever they thought they had better opportunity at. And BFF did nothing to hold on to them, I think we have to hold these players, we need to make more academies like the Elite Academy and do proper nursing of these players and give them proper training, maintaining a certain standard and we also need to provide them with proper facilities. Then we can cover up the player crisis of the national team, we can’t find enough players for the national team, it lacks in finishing and if we can give proper nourishment to these players then they will give a good service to the national team in the future and will be able to fill the void.  And the U-17 team is under BFF, I was only given responsibility for one tour, it they give me the full responsibility of the U-17 national team then definitely I would’ve made a plan about the team that what should be done with this team and how to train the players in future. And I have even received some proposals regarding this team a sports agent from Australia had called me about if we can play this team somewhere in Europe, he asked me if we can avail this team to play in elite academies like Chelsea, and if we can provide some potential players to their academies and I have received more similar proposals. So, if the BFF sits with me regarding these or if they call me then I will give them these suggestions but it’s completely up to BFF that how they will do nursing of this team and how they will manage this team in the future.

The Report: The big names in football, the big European teams who are playing great football, their domestic leagues and academies matter a lot in producing players, even neighbor country India are developing their domestic league, but we are not able to do any development in our club football. And a main reason for this is the private owned clubs which are not investing in creating academies whatever is happening is being done by BFF and by the Government funds. So, don’t you think that if the private owned clubs invest more in growing the game and create more academies then Bangladesh football will grow rapidly?

Zahid: Definitely. If the corporate field does not give enough funding and doesn’t show enough interest and passion towards football then it can not develop. Because huge investment is needed to develop football and it is expensive to develop this game. And for this the private sector needs to come forward and they should build some academies from self interest and stay connected with clubs and help in nursing of the players and do collaborations with BFF to works towards the development of football. As long as they don’t grow such mentality then it will be really hard for us to think that we can develop football in our country. And I think we will see this in near future as Tabith Awal has taken the charge. He has really good connection with the private owned companies and he has good bond with many corporate houses and I think may be, he will relate those with BFF and take the next steps and if such steps are taken then I think it will fill the void of football academies in Bangladesh.

The Report: Every team has one such player on whom the team relies and who is one step above the other players, so have you seen such a player in the Bangladesh U-17 team, or if I ask you to mention one player who has better potential then others then who would you name from this team?

Zahid: If you ask me to name any one then Sorry, I won’t be able to name one. Because there a few players who have got wonderful potential. I have managed the team for only five matches and watched them in training, from what I have seen there is a player named Morshed and there is Arham who came in from Australia, these two players are really good and have great potential and at the same time there is the captain, Foysal these three players are excellent. If they can carry their form and passion in the future then they have bright future ahead. There is another player named Kamal, he plays in the mid-field he is great as well. So, these players are special according to what I have seen and if they can carry their dedication and from in future then definitely, they will go to big places.

The Report: Lastly, what things can BFF do or what change should BFF bring so that the Bangladesh men’s national football can get good results and go up in world rankings? For example, Bangladesh women’s football team has won the SAFF tournament back-to-back but no improvement is seen in the men’s national team. What can be and should be done by BFF to improve the men’s national team?

Zahid: BFF wants to get results from the men’s national team soon because that’s what people wants to see, results of the national team. They don’t care about what’s going on the domestic league or what result any club produces. They will forget all if you can provide them with a good result of the national team. For example, the national team has been criticized a lot after their loss against Maldives, but if they had won the first match, then we would put them on our heads. So, for BFF to change overnight, it needs to generate good results from the national team. And to get results in shorter time, we have some players such as Hamza Chowdhury and some other players who are living abroad, BFF needs to include them in the national as soon as possible and target the recently coming SAFF tournament. And if we somehow manage to get a good result in that tournament then using that achievement BFF committee can move forward quickly. There is Souleymane Diabate he has already been here for 5 years, he got the nationality as well, he could be included as there is lack of finishers in Bangladesh national men’s team. I am saying this because this is the only shortcut route to get rapid results from the national team. And if you talk about long term then it will take 5 to 7 years to build a good team. But the current national team is not good enough to generate good results, but if you can fetch a good result by including new players like the ones I have mentioned then it will be easier for the new committee to work.