Losing on home soil is a bitter pill to swallow!

All the hype which had built up over a month, a surge in the sale of the national team’s new white jersey and the inclusion of foreign-based players injected a wild passion in football –- a game that had been languishing for over a decade.

Sadly, the team, although played well in the second half and especially in the last twenty minutes, went down to higher-ranked Singapore 2-1.

For a stadium filled with spectators and millions who watched the game on television, this was heartbreaking.

No matter how much we try to console ourselves, the fact remains, that in current-day football, hardly any team ever loses on home soil.

Even on a day when the stars are against the home team, the result is usually a draw.

Despite praising the valiant efforts of our players, we need to accept that the team made some glaring defensive blunders, which gave Singapore the win.

Just to highlight the advantage of playing on home soil, Sri Lanka, ranked 200th, stands as an example.

The team beat 166th-ranked Chinese Taipei in Colombo by 3-1 on the same day when Bangladesh fumbled against Singapore.

In two other away matches involving South Asian teams, India lost to Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, thanks to an extra-minute penalty.

Had the referee not given the penalty, India would have come back with an away draw, akin to a win.

In the same manner, Nepal lost 2-1 to Laos in Vientiane.

One can easily expect Nepal to win the home match against the same opponents.

Pakistan, ranked 198, lost to Myanmar in Yangon, bringing a win for the latter on home soil.

A footballing gospel: a team rarely loses on home turf unless, of course, the opponent is a powerhouse.

Even if the other side is among the top-tier Asian sides, the margin of loss is inevitably lower.

In 1985, Bangladesh playing their first ever World Cup qualifiers, for Mexico 1986, lost away matches but won both home games against Thailand and Indonesia, by 1-0 and 2-1 respectively.

The grim reality is the day after the much-anticipated Bangladesh match on 10 June, we are left to contemplate the errors and digest a defeat.

Agreed, the refereeing was not top-notch either as Bangladesh was clearly denied a penalty, however, it’s pointless agonising over “what could have been”.

The fact remains -- Bangladesh lost the match.

LET’S NOT GRASP AT STRAWS

At the end of the game, people were heard saying that the main achievement of the match was creating a buzz and bringing back spectators to the stadium.

Some were also praising the sporadic moments of brilliance from players.

We can decide to brush aside the truth and live in fantasy or we can underline the main problems plaguing the team.

For starters, in the first goal by Singapore, the person who scored was left unmarked.

Time and again, Bangladesh concedes goals because opponent players are left unguarded.

The team came to this match knowing very well that Singapore has deadly strikers yet they failed to contain them.

The absence of a proper striker, or a fox in the box, has been a longstanding problem for Bangladesh.

Rakib has pace, and excellent last-minute control on the running ball but his steam fizzles out in the front of the opponent’s goal post.

He managed a goal against Singapore, but then, the shot was weak and the Singapore custodian failed to grip the ball.

Bangladesh plays well but in modern-day football, without strikers, a team will only come out of a match with heads down.

The harm has been done with the import of too many foreign players, usually African players, to play in the striking position.

Consequently, no team uses a local player as a scorer, relying heavily on foreign players.

This concern was raised several years ago at a press conference where the then-president replied saying that when he was a player, local strikers competed with foreign ones and then made a place in the club team.

This is a gravely erroneous/fallacious excuse, which could not be challenged by the media present as most reporters were possibly too young to have witnessed the local football scene in the 70s and 80s.

Back in those days, only leading clubs could afford to get foreign strikers and this was limited to the top three, Abahani, Mohammedan and Brothers.

All the other teams in the top division had local strikers who had the chance to develop their skills and become comfortable in their positions.

In addition, a thriving second, third and pioneer division provided fertile ground for strikers to develop.

When these players were eventually roped in by the leading clubs and the national side, they had already established themselves as strikers.

In the last fifteen years, with money being injected into the local leagues, even the small clubs bought foreign strikers, thus depriving the local players from playing in that position.

The dependence on foreign goalscorers has become so pervasive that in village-level matches, teams sponsored by rival chairmen of two villages, African strikers are hired from Dhaka.

During the golden period of Bangladesh football when we were a top South Asian side and could beat most southeast Asian teams on home soil, there was a regular supply of goal scorers -- Salauddin, Chunni, Ashish, Badal Roy, Aslam, Nakib and Alfaz.

In that line, the last was Ameli, who captained the team in 2008-2009.

Honestly speaking, in the past 15 years, the few matches Bangladesh won were through fortunate strikes from midfielders, defenders and wingers.

Rakib’s goal against Singapore also came after ages!

As we try to accept the defeat, let’s also face the truth -– we simply don’t have strikers and if we concede two goals then making a comeback is almost impossible.

PRACTICAL APPROACH

Anyway, this feeling of hopelessness will also pass and we will go on to play the next games.

The main plan at this moment should focus on drawing the remaining home matches we have, against Hong Kong and India.

Manufacturing a striker in six months is not possible but solidifying defence can be done with proper D-box defence strategy.

Bangladesh’s man-to-man marking falters, providing golden chances to predators from the opponent.

This is where the work needs to be done.

On Oct 9, Bangladesh will be playing 153rd-ranked Hong Kong on home soil.

If Singapore, ranked 160, can go away with a win, then against Hong Kong, the preparation in defence has to be watertight.

Let’s be practical and not expect a victory.

If it comes then we can attribute it to luck but at this moment, the aim must be to secure a draw.

On Oct 14, Bangladesh will be travelling to Hong Kong for the away match, which, understandably will be tough.

Bringing down expectations, if the team can get two more points, the qualifying campaign can be deemed a success.

The nation is bleeding, we are shattered yet, we continue to find solace in the lines of John Dryden: I am sore wounded, not slain, I will lay me down, bleed a while and rise up to fight again!

[Towheed Feroze is a former journalist!]