Asia Cup 2009 :: Bangladesh out to break the duck against Malaysia

Bangladesh has thrown in the towel as far as their campaign in the on-going Asia Cup hockey tournament is concerned.

Their ultimate target is, in fact, to score one goal against a top hockey team – and they hope to do it when they play Malaysia today.

Their German coach Gerhad Peter Rach said the team have not scored a goal against a top hockey playing nation in the last few years and he would like to see that end during the Asia Cup.

“That is our target. We do not have a well prepared team and you cannot do much when you have not played any practice matches.

“We only played two friendlies against the Malaysian Juniors prior to the tournament. So to expect a great performance from us is not right,” said Rach.

Bangladesh lost 0-5 to Japan and the German was not too disappointed with the result.

“Five goals is not a big defeat for us. We used to get beaten by bigger margins by the top teams.

The match with Japan highlighted our shortcomings. The players we have are the best in our country but they are sorely lacking in experience.

“They could not handle the pressure and neither are they able to match the others. The gap is too wide between the top teams and us,” he said.

Rach expects Malaysia to win but he wants his players to get a goal.

Rach was India’s first foreign coach from 2004-2005. He guided the team to the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 Champions Trophy tournament.

He only joined Bangladesh six months ago and his long association with the team will depend on their performance in the Asia Cup.

“I do not know what my future is with the national team but it will be decided after the Asia Cup. For the moment, I am handling the team for this tournament only,” he said.

Bangladesh come into the Asia Cup as the Asia Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup champions. The AHF Cup is a second tier tournament for Asian teams.

Rach added that they are certainly out of their depth for this tournament and said that teams in the AHF Cup will be outclassed in the Asia Cup.

“I think that is why Oman did not come here. They would have been beaten soundly too. This is the reality and the gap is too wide,” he said. Oman, the AHF Cup runner-up, also qualified for the Asia Cup.

It would not be wrong to say Bangladesh will be in for a thrashing against Malaysia but they will definitely give their best – as scoring a goal for them is like winning a match.