I didn't expect Naimudding to stop here: Nazrul

Former national captain Kazi Nazrul Islam announced his retirement from national team after facing differences with the lately sacked coach Naimuddin. Even then he didn’t expect Naim’s exit from the scene. Q: You left national team getting irate with your coach. And now even that coach has been sacked by Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). What will you say about it? Nazrul: I can have a personal clash with the coach. But that doesn’t mean that I wanted him to be sacked. The issue of nationl football is

undoubtedly greater than just an individual affair; therefore it should get the priority over anything else. To be honest, I wanted to forget the whole thing. I never thought of such consequences.

Q: The farewell of Naimuddin means a new coach would come. How will this affect the national team?

Nazrul: Such frequent changes in coaching position are surely going to damage our country’s image. Everybody from outside assume that no coach can sustain with this team; there must be some serious problems. In future no one will be interested to coach our time. Whoever is made coach, he should be given enough scope to prove himself. Samir Shakir and George Kottan got this space, that’s why we could taste success to some extent during their reigns. Both of them helped us winning trophies (SAAF Games and SAAF Football). Before them, many coaches had to leave the team earlier than getting the required time to organise. A new coach starts everything in his own style; but before players could get accustomed to that, another new coach arrives. What can I say now? In fact I am short of words for reactions.

Q: You told that there wouldn’t be any problem for you to return to the national team if Naimuddin is not there. Now once you see he is not there any more, what are you thinking now?

Nazrul: I wanted to play SAAF Football. Now if Federation wants me, I am going to play for sure. That will be my last tournament. If the federation doesn’t ask me, there is no Q of playing. However, my return is not that much important now, and I am telling again I would have been happier if Naimuddin were the coach till now.

Q: What was your problem with coach?

Nazrul: Everything was normal up to Nehru Cup. On our return from Delhi journalists wanted to know the reason of our bad performances from me as the team captain. At that time a newspaper published that I slated his coaching style. On his return to Dhaka, coach read that paper cutting and stopped talking to me. I am also a human being with feelings; after facing negligence for a while, I realized that I can’t go on like this.

Q: Give some more details.

Nazrul: After Naimuddin went to Cox's Bazar, Hasan Al Mamun, Rajani, Moni, Abul , Shuvra and I reached the following day. Shuvra who went to book tickets, met the coach at the ticket counter. Coach asked him why I made negative comments about his practice tactics. In this connection let me tell you that I never made such comments. The next day while we were on the way to Cox’s Bazar, we found the coach blaming the senior players for the bad results in a Daily. After reading this, some of the players wanted to go back home. Unless they were already in the bus, they would have retreated for sure. However it did not stop there. When we reached Cox's Bazar, coach began to shout on us, “Why are you so late?” Also he refused to talk to us later at night. That was the beginning. After that he never talked to me in the camp. I informed the federation but it was of no use and also received same treatment at the BKSP.

Q: Coaches may have different styles. You complained about that; naturally coach will mind.

Nazrul: I do agree. But I could not like the coaching style of Naim bhai. And I know everyone in the team will agree with me. National team footballers should not be treated as schoolboys so there is no need to keep us in rigid rules. A coach will surely take care for our will and woe but it doesn’t mean he will impose martial law on us!

Q: Nevertheless he was your coach, a teacher. You should have tried to cope up.

Nazrul: I do respect him a lot. But he crossed limits in some cases which was unbearable. For example our practice time is at eight in the morning, he will wake us up at six. If we want to have snacks, he will say, ‘eat from your practice’. After taking breakfast at 11.00 -12.00, he again used to force us to practice. We even practiced after dark. Every night there was a meeting on same topic, Jadukar Samad. We couldn’t even look at each other when we sat in front of him.

Q: What else?

Nazrul: I could not like his game plan either. He only engaged us in practice and not in matches. He only likes a 6- a side football in small field. The other coaches have always emphasised on practice matches. Everybody had a friendly relation with the players. This coach was an exception. But I must mention a good quality in him; he had always been vocal for our well being.

Q: The players of the national team got a tendency of going to sudden retirement. After that they return when called back; why is that they can’t accept to be discarded from the team?

Nazrul: I never saw the due estimation of a senior player in this country. That is why a player calls time on his career without any prior notice. It is better to tell someone to quit than to discard him directly. And then when we talk of retirement, you people then charge, “Why are you quitting? Your team needs you.” If we return, you would say we did it because we could not resist the temptation to play in the national team. No footballer wants to make a comeback willfully. I have seen from my experience, the national team players play with their heart and soul.

Q: What according to you is the prospect of Bangladesh Football?

Nazrul: There has been no first division football for the last two years. I don’t know about the B-league, there is no football for the local players. This condition is terrible for a country's football. Only a few days’ practice is arranged before the international matches, no facilities are available. Everything, from tracksuit to other accessories are of low quality. Our dress up alone is enough to make us feel inferior to foreign players abroad. Till now, I have seen no planning regarding football. My time with football is nearing to the end. If situation doesn’t change, the upcoming young players will be left in darkness.