Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin told the Jockey Club IGC Invitational Tournament winners -- the Bangladesh under-15 girls' football team - that they will have to work hard over the next few years if they are to be ranked among the best in Asia. He was speaking at an informal gathering with the team at the BFF House yesterday, following the team's return in the early hours.
"I want to congratulate you for being champions. It makes me happy that the city [ Hong Kong] you came back from as champions is the one I also played and my elder daughter, too, was born in that city," the BFF boss told the team in presence of media.
However, he asked them not to get carried away with the triumph and the subsequent flood of congratulations as he felt much tougher tests await them.
"It is only the beginning of a long journey. To reach the top is much easier than staying there.
There are many players who play very well for a week but if he/she can't continue the next day he/she will fall behind. So it is tough to reach the top but even tougher to stay there.
"You are only 14, 15 and 16 years old, in the next 4 to 5 years, you have to train/practice six times more than now. When the level of your training increases by ten times after 4 to 5 years, then you will be a real footballer," Salahuddin said.
The head of Bangladesh football gave the example of Sabina Khatun, the national women's team captain who is now playing in the Indian Women's League, to inspire these budding footballers.
"You see Sabina. I want to see you playing the league in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and if you can do that then today's gift would be nothing," he said.
The team's proud coach Colam Rabbani Choton informed there is hardly any time for these girls to relax. "These girls will join the ongoing long-term camp today as we have a number of international tournaments ahead including a futsal tournament in Thailand next month," he
said.
He however, feels that the young players have already benefited a lot from the camp. "They have obviously improved in technical skills as well as mental toughness, but the difference was physical fitness. Our players played in full tempo for the entire matches all throughout the three games. This happened due to the continuous camp that the girls are in," Choton added.
The tournament's top-scorer Saraban Tohura, who scored eight goals, including two hattricks in three matches, said that the biggest gain from these competitions for them is earning the courage to fight against other teams.
"When I first went outside the country, during the U-14 AFC Regional Championships final in Nepal in 2015,1 cried. I was afraid when I had to board a lift for the first time. But now after playing so much in different tournaments we have got used to these things," the youngster from Kalshindur in Mymensingh said.
"We used to have neck-and-neck fights with teams like Iran. But this time we have beaten Iran 8-1. So we have the courage now when we take on other teams," she added.