Thimphu: Bangladesh coach Tom Saintfiet described the loss of midfielder Emon Mahmud due to a family bereavement ahead of Monday’s 2019 AFC Asian Cup play-off second leg with Bhutan as a “catastrophe” for the visitors to Changlimithang Stadium.
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Saintfiet’s Bangladesh were forced to settle for a goalless draw in last month’s first leg in Dhaka as they seek to earn a place in the final round qualifying group stage ahead of the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
But after Mahmud’s mother suddenly died on Sunday morning the midfielder, who did not feature in the first leg, will return to Bangladesh on Monday before kick-off.
“Emon is my key player, we trained this whole week. He was in form. The whole team is shocked. We had a fantastic atmosphere and now we will have to build up for tomorrow because it’s a very important match for us, for Bangladesh football,” said Saintfiet, who has been preparing his side from last Monday.
“It’s a catastrophe. Emon was playing very good for Dhaka Abahani. He was a skillful, technical and intelligent midfield player who combines that with a lot of spirit and fighting mentality. After our first match against Bhutan, I was looking for solutions, and Emon was from day one in my plan.”
Bangladesh had been denied by an inspired performance from visiting goalkeeper Hari Gurung in the first leg last month as Bhutan ended a run of 13 consecutive defeats in all competitions.
“It would have been much better had we won. We had created 22 chances to score a goal, Bhutan had two or three,” added Saintfiet.
“If we had scored a goal in the first match and won that, we would have been a little more relaxed. But with 0-0, we can still play for a draw and Bhutan need to win. So we have small advantage with 0-0, but Bhutan will be playing at home, with a 10-15 thousand crowd.”
Bhutan famously qualified for the previous round of joint qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup after beating Sri Lanka, which included a 2-1 home win in March 2015.
“The situation is quite the same for both teams. These teams are playing at the same level. Now its 0-0, so it’s a start from the beginning,” said new Bhutan coach Torsten Spittler, who has replaced Pema Dorji following the first leg.
“I think our team can play a good match and can keep the plan more than the first leg, and then we will have a good chance of coming out with a good result. There are other things involved, I hope we will have luck on our side.
“Since it was 0-0 in Dhaka, we know the situations. We know we have to win either by normal result or by penalty a shootout. And that’s what we want to do.
“We are not here to sit back and relax. We want to give them a fight until the last minute, and if the last minute is penalties, then we will do it until the last penalty.”
Photo: BFF
Source: the-afc.com