Bangladesh missed an opportunity to win, says Oscar Bruzon

The Spaniard spoke after his team's hard-fought draw with India at the SAFF Championships.

Despite being a man down against India, Bangladesh pulled off a 1-1 draw in their second match of the ongoing SAFF Championship 2021. India's talisman Sunil Chhetri scored in the first half, which was later neutralized by Yeasin Arafat's 74th minute strike. The Bangladesh national team's head coach Oscar Bruzon spoke to the media after the match to share his thoughts on the draw:

Regarding what draw means to Bangladesh

Oscar Bruzon expressed his satisfaction regarding the draw, praising his side's courage and calibre. "We are Bangladesh football and our football is alive," he said. "We went out to play positive football and we did."

Playing with 10 men

When asked about his intent in the second half, Oscar Bruzon emphasized on the side's unity as a key factor. Mentioning "character" to be just another word, he noted the importance of team play and having the same objective in mind.

"What I've been communicating with the boys is that we can be an unbeatable force, if we all play with one mind," he explained. "We controlled the first half and despite being a man down, we had good control in the central areas throughout the 90 minutes."

In addition, he explained how he dealt with the red card incident tatically. "We substituted five players in the interval of 10 minutes to adapt. I did not feel that we were playing with 10 men in the second half. I feel we missed an opportunity to win all three points," said the tactician.

On Sunil Chhetri's brilliance

The former Bashundhara Kings head coach praised Sunil Chhetri and his ability to score goals. Chhetri gave Igor Stimac's side the lead in the first half with another spectacular finish.

"He's a quality player and we all saw what he did in the first half. If you give him half a meter of space, he will convert," Oscar Bruzon said.

Regarding differences between halves

The Spaniard dissected India's tactics and explained how they approached the game in both halves. Referring to the first half as a "balanced" one, he pointed to India's wing-play. "We allowed them to keep the ball," he explained. "However, they kept the ball in their defensive zone for most of the time. In the first half, they were switching to the wings well, especially towards the left side with Subhasish (Bose) and Udanta (Singh)."

In similar fashion, Bruzon explained India's intent to tire his side out after the red card incident. "Their plan, after we got the red card, was not to penetrate vertically," he said. "They wanted to play from side-to-side to get us tired. That's where the substitutions came into play. That's why, most of our chances in the second half came in transitions. Despite being a man down, we had enough players inside their box."

Referring to his side's "confident" performance, Oscar Bruzon expressed his satisfaction, implying that Bangladesh "did not suffer anytime during the match."

"With 10 men in the second half, we came out with full confidence. The guys executed the plan well and I'm absolutely satisfied," he said.

Regarding road ahead

Oscar Bruzon clearly mentioned his side's intent to reach the final in the press conference. Repeating his claim, he referred to the draw as a missed opportunity.

"We are not here to minimize damage or to hold on. We're here to win games," he said regarding the road ahead. "We don't think we have done something big. We don't have pressure because no one is counting on us. But, we want to reach the finals and show everyone that Bangladesh football is alive."

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