Ord stresses on youth development programme

The national head coach Andrew Ord stressed on youth development and physical fitness after Bangladesh suffered three defeats in the recently concluded AFC U23 Championship qualifier round held
in Palestine.
He said the unsatisfactory result only emphasizes the need for solid youth development for Bangladesh’s future in football, talking to BFF yesterday.
Ord, who is also in charge of the national U23 team, called for the sustainable youth development master plan centering physical and professional development for the betterment of football.
While commenting on his team’s 7-0, 3-1, and 3-0 defeats against group mates Jordan, Tajikistan and Palestine respectively, Ord said the team needed to do much more.
“At the moment, Bangladesh is nowhere near competitive competence in the international arena.”
Reiterating his position on physical fitness, Ord said, “Giving it all will not make a difference when you are not physically fit for the professional level.”
Ord mentioned that in the first match, the stronger Jordan side managed to take advantage of the Bangladesh team’s lack of experience and performance in the international arena, which resulted in the 7-0 defeat.
However, Ord blames fitness and lack of concentration for the defeat against Tajikistan and Palestine in the final two matches.
He comments that the 3-1 defeat against Tajikistan proves that there cannot be good results despite giving full efforts if the players are not physically fit.
“The lack of concentration in the match against Palestine made us concede two goals from set pieces, which is an area we covered a lot in practice.”
Ord hoped the youngsters would remember the lessons from this campaign in future, and urged them to be more responsible in international football.
When asked what Bangladesh needs to do at the international level, Ord said he was surprised at the lack of physical fitness of the boys when he first saw them.