Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dooley believes his team has a realistic chance of winning the SAFF Championship for the first time in 23 years.
The hosts will begin their campaign against Bhutan at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday. Bangladesh last won the title in 2003 and have since struggled to repeat that success.
But Dooley believes this year’s tournament offers Bangladesh a chance to end their long wait.
“I think this tournament is realistic that this team can, we can win this after 23 years,” Dooley said at the press conference on Wednesday.
The coach said his players must believe in themselves and fight until the final minute to achieve their goal.
“We have the confidence that we can play, that we can fight and that we can actually achieve that,” he said.
Bangladesh will host the tournament for the first time since 2018. The return of the competition has raised expectations among supporters, who hope to see their team lift the trophy at home.
Dooley accepted that Bangladesh would face pressure as hosts. However, he believes his players should embrace the challenge rather than fear it.
“Obviously you are the favorite and you be actually not the underdog anymore, you be now the leader and everybody expects you to win,” he said.
The coach said Bangladesh could no longer consider themselves outsiders in the competition. Instead, they must show their ability on the pitch.
“Now we cannot say we are the underdogs anymore because now we are in that level we just have to prove it,” Dooley said.
“We have to prove it against every single team that we belong there. And that we not just belong there that we want to win that.”
Dooley also believes the home crowd could play an important role. He expects thousands of supporters to turn up and push the players throughout the tournament.
He said the team wanted to repay that support by winning the trophy.
“We know that we have to win the tournament because we want to win it for you. We want to win it for the fans. And I want to win it for the team also,” he said.
Bangladesh have been preparing for the competition for several months. Dooley admitted that the team faced some problems during that period but expressed satisfaction with their overall progress.
The coach also warned that confidence alone would not bring success. His players must perform when it matters.
“We have to think positive. If we thinking that we cannot do it then we will never do it,” he said.
Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in their second group match on November 11. But Dooley’s immediate focus remains on beating Bhutan and making a winning start to the tournament.
