Cabrera happy with ‘lucky’ win in Thimphu

Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera expressed his satisfaction with a “lucky” win as his charges ended three months of footballing hiatus with a 1-0 victory against Bhutan in a FIFA friendly fixture at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu on Thursday.
The Bangladesh players, who had last played a competitive match on June 11 and did not have any club engagement either since then, took the lead through a Sheikh Morsalin goal in the sixth minute of the game.
The young forward bundled home the rebound, on the second attempt, after Bhutan goalkeeper Tshering Dhendup failed to gather a fairly straightforward cross from Rakib Hossain in the right, instead parrying the ball straight at Morsalin who was standing a mere few feet away.
Cabrera admitted it was a lucky goal, but the Spaniard took heart from the fact that his team came out with a victory despite not being in the best of shape and having to deal with the high altitude of Thimphu. It was Bangladesh’s first victory at the venue, where they had suffered their only defeat to Bhutan in 2016.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We were lucky, scoring that goal that early in the game. After that we were struggling until the 20th or 25th minute of the game. Slowly the team got into the game and since then the team did extremely well,” the Spaniard said at the post-match press conference.
“[It was a] very mature performance, and that is what we were expecting. With six-seven training sessions we came here to play at [high] altitude, with a team that is in the middle of the season. I’m very, very happy — more than the result, about the way they have performed,” the coach opined.
While there was very little intensity on either side throughout the match, Bangladesh were largely untroubled by the hosts who had the advantage of playing on their home soil and in front of a passionate crowd. The coach said that it was good to have a win under their belt after four defeats in a row in the World Cup Qualifiers and following a three-month gap.
“Obviously it was important to win but that wasn’t the main target,” Cabrera said. “[It was good to] get the players after three months and start getting ready for what is coming from next year. But it was important to win after four defeats in a row, especially for the confidence.”
The coach, meanwhile, expected a much tougher challenge from the hosts in the second match on Sunday; in probable absence of Rakib, who injured his left ankle towards the end of the first half and was subsequently taken off.
Morsalin, meanwhile, was happy to have scored the winning goal for the team, taking his tally to five international goals in 12 appearances.
“We played the way the coach had instructed us to play,” the teenager said. “Our target was to take it match by match, and if we can play according to the coach’s plan, we can have another positive result.”