Maruful Haque is unquestionably one of the nation's foremost coaches, with his domestic achievements highlighting his credentials. The 54-year-old recently added another accolade by leading Bangladesh's youth football team to their first-ever SAFF U-20 Championship title. After returning to Dhaka from Nepal on Thursday, Maruful spoke to a media outlet about his journey to securing the championship.
When discussing the challenge of preparing for the tournament in just 15 days, especially considering the players had been out of action for two months, he described it as one of the toughest challenges of his career. He had to conduct two training cycles while ensuring the players got sufficient rest. In 12 to 13 sessions, moderate fitness was prioritised alongside the application of emergency fitness components, mainly aerobic training. Tactically, he didn't focus on all aspects—knowing the individual quality of the players, the strength and playing style of other teams in the SAFF region—but chose five effective tactics and applied them across the four matches. However, the players had maintained a level of basic fitness, which helped in their preparation.
Regarding the motivation for the final against hosts and two-time champions Nepal, who had never lost to Bangladesh in their previous four encounters, he instilled self-belief in the players from the second day of training, convincing them they could become champions. Understanding the pattern of the players' mentality allowed him to guide the whole squad effectively. He noticed an incredible love for the country, which he hadn't seen in other teams before, and tapped into this by showing them motivational images related to the historic student movement of July-August and the trophy unveiling.
Reflecting on his previous experiences guiding the senior national team through a month-long training and working with the U-23 team without success, he noted that the senior level was highly competitive, with the nation's top players. At that time, they were behind teams like India, Afghanistan, and the Maldives, who had players like Ali Ashfaq. In South Asia's age-group tournaments, all teams are fairly equal, though India are slightly ahead. However, he has also developed himself, gained more experience, and updated his approach to fit the situation.
