Cruciani for less 'parota-mangsha’

Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:55 am            

There will be no 'parota-mangsha' or 'mach-bhat' for the footballers when they start their final-phase preparation today for the SAFF Football Championship.

This was the message the national booters received from their Argentine coach Diego Cruciani when they reported for the residential camp at the BFF House yesterday.

Nearly half of the 24-member squad could not report at the BFF House because of the city being wrapped in a security blanket for the Saarc Summit.

Players from the city, Narayan-ganj and Chittagong were present but those who come from the northern part of the capital including captain Arif Khan Joy and Rajani Kanta Barman, went straight to BKSP. The squad will reside at the Savar sports institute for the next 21 days before flying to the Pakistani port city Karachi to defend their SAFF title.


Cruciani tried to make sure the footballers understood the necessity of avoiding carbohydrate to improve their fitness level.


"I realised after the Myanmar trip that the players have only reached halfway through to my expected fitness level. They need a diet where there will be no carbohydrate. It would mean they have to stop eating their favourite items, like rice, bread and spicy dishes," Cruciani told reporters.


"As I have said earlier, they need to change habits and especially food. They can eat as many noodles as they want. This is time to change because they will go through a hectic and hard schedule to get as near as possible of the expected fitness level," he said.


"Apart from fitness, the players need to shift their full focus to the SAFF Championship. They must prepare for the challenge and know what their responsibilities are."

Cruciani's boys will return to Dhaka on weekends to play practice matches, against Mohammedan Sporting Club on November 17 and Muktijoddha Sangsad on November 24. Both the matches are expected to be played at the Army Stadium.


They will play their last warm-up game at the end of the camp but the opponents are yet to be finalised as Abahani might not be available in early December due to National League commitments. Either the Under-20 national team or a team comprising Dhaka-based foreign booters will be playing the Pakistan bound team, it was learned.

Sun Jun 25, 2006 3:58 pm