It was like playing against Brazil: Gobinathan

Bangladesh Head coach Gobinathan Krishnamurtby termed his side’s game against Malaysia like playing against Brazil in football after the national hockey team lost to the World Cup semifinalists 7-0 in their third Pool B encounter at the GBK Hockey Field in Jakarta on Friday.

Bangladesh enjoyed their best moments in the game during the first quarter without conceding any but failed to cope up with Malaysian attackers in the rest of the match, conceding three each in the next two quarters and one in the last minute.

“Malaysia is a strong team; they played in the World Cup. It's like Bangladesh were playing against Brazil. It's not easy to play because technically they are very strong and have World Cup experience,” said the Malaysian coach.

Gobinathan said that if Bangladesh have to meet the standards of opponents like Malaysia they need “A big, big vision”. “We need to have lot of money to arrange a big and long programme. There is a process. You need a two-year training programme for the Asian Games. We got two months but we need more time. We need to find better players.”

“Some of the movement was really good. We attacked but didn't play defensively. For now, I'm happy with attacking against big teams. We never attacked before. 

Bangladesh will face Thailand in their next fixture on Sunday before taking on Pakistan on the 28th. Gobinathan added, “The Thailand match is the most important for us. We have to gather ourselves and focus on the Thailand game. We have to secure a place. 5th or 6th would be the best result for Bangladesh.”