Just few days after the SAFF Suzuki Cup we heard the comments from some of the coaching staffs of Maldives national team saying that they didn’t have any responsibilities to work as assistant coaches.
Coach Ricki Herbert met with two assistant coaches, Ismail Mahfooz and Assad Abdul Ghani and goalkeeper coach Aslam Abdul Raheem separately and he said to them that they don’t have any qualities to work with him.
Well, Ricki Herbert is a player who represented New Zealand in the FIFA World Cup and also he was the head coach of New Zealand in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a UEFA Pro license.
Yesterday we have witnessed that Maldives football team lost to Nepal by 4-1 in the semi final of Bangabandhu Gold Cup. This is the first time that the Maldives lost to Nepal in the last 17 years.
Most importantly Nepal team consists of 3 senior players and all the other players are from their U23 and U19 team. And their coach Balgopal Maharajan is having AFC B license certificate. It’s a shame that a UEFA Pro coach was beating by an AFC B license certificate with most of the players are from their Olympic and U19 team.
Maldives coach Ricki Herbert said previously that his main target for the Bangbandhu Gold Cup is to prepare his team for the upcoming SAF Games, which will be held in India next month.
Coach Ricki Herbert used almost all the players in the squad during the four games played in the tournament and most of the players are not eligible to play for the U23 team. Samooh Ali, Qasim Samaam, Naiz, Imaz and Hamza are the only players eligible to play for the U23 team among the players who were used during most of the matches.
Still can I say he is preparing the team for the SAF Games or testing the players for the upcoming tournament? Yes he can take three senior players but how about the goalkeeper. Did he give any chance for a young keeper starting from the match against Bhutan in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier until the match against Nepal in the semi final of Bangabandhu Gold Cup? The answer is NO. So, still the coach is preparing the team for the SAF Games!
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