Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dennis Dooley admitted his side still lack a proper striker despite opening their SAFF Championship 2026 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Bhutan at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
Mohammad Ibrahim came off the bench to score the winner in the 69th minute. Bangladesh dominated much of the match but missed several chances before finally breaking Bhutan’s defence.
Dooley was happy with the three points but admitted his team needed more players inside the penalty area.
“We had actually a lot of opportunities, but you can only score goals also when you have players in the box. We were like one player or maybe two players against seven, eight, and that’s what we want to change a little bit,” he said.
The coach also explained his decision to use Bishwanath Ghosh as a striker despite the player’s usual role in defence.
“We talked about that, we don’t have a number nine, we have to find one,” Dooley said.
He praised Bishwanath’s energy and said the defender could help the team more in attack.
“I want to put him in a position where he can help us the most, and that is up front,” he said.
Bishwanath missed several chances in the first half, but Dooley defended his performance and said he was happy with the player’s efforts.
The coach also spoke about Ibrahim, whose goal made the difference just minutes after he entered the field.
Dooley admitted he had not expected the substitute to score. His original plan was to use Ibrahim to create chances for others.
“I wasn’t thinking that Ibrahim could score, I was more thinking that he’s setting somebody up over there,” he said.
He explained that Ibrahim had impressed him in training after previously failing to earn a place in the squad.
“He showed that this time in training, that’s why I was happy with him keeping him, and having also in the game,” Dooley said.
The Bangladesh coach also revealed why captain Topu Barman missed the match despite being named in the starting line-up.
Topu had felt discomfort in his leg during training. Although he initially hoped to play, he could not complete the warm-up.
“He was like 50-50 and I said 50-50 is not good enough,” Dooley said.
Quazem Shah replaced Topu, while Jamal Bhuyan took over the captaincy.
Despite the missed chances, Dooley believed Bangladesh deserved the victory.
“In the end, I’m glad that we put one ball in. So we have a victory and I think we deserve that also,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bhutan’s head coach blamed his team’s lack of match fitness for the defeat.
“Unfortunately, our fitness levels cost us,” he said.
He explained that several players had not played competitive football for weeks and struggled as the match went on.
The Bhutan coach also felt his team could have defended better against Ibrahim’s winner.
“It was quite a sloppy goal, it wasn’t a brilliant build-up, it was just one of those things,” he said.
Bangladesh will take confidence from the victory, but Dooley’s comments made it clear that finding a reliable striker and improving their finishing remain important tasks for the rest of the tournament.
