Gobinathan stresses on match temperment

Gobinathan Krishnamurthy arrived on Monday night to take charge of the Bangladesh national hockey team ahead of the Youth Olympic Qualifiers and Asian Games.

The former Malaysian international coached the men in red and green for a two-month stint back in 2014-15, but this time he is expected to guide the Bangladesh team for a longer reign as he is expected to work with both the youth and senior teams while training coaches.

“The only way forward is playing a lot of matches and earning game temperament. They have to break the fear barrier when playing under pressure. I want to make a structure at the team,” the 40-year-old said during his introductory press conference at the BOA auditorium yesterday.

Bangladesh recently finished runners-up in the Asian Games qualifiers in Oman under the guidance of Mahbub Harun, losing the final 2-0 against the hosts. Gobinathan said he watched the matches and realised that the only thing the players need is game temperament.

“We played well in Oman, but didn't score enough goals in the semifinal and final. We need to play more games to overcome that,” said the coach, who was most recently in charge of Malaysia's women's team.

Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Abdus Sadeque informed that Gobinathan would train the under-17 team for next month's Youth Olympics Qualifiers in Bangkok, which will conclude on April 29. After returning, the coach will work with the national team for August's Asian Games.

“He [Gobinathan] arrived last night. He will go to BKSP today. We have not talked about the length of his contract as yet. We will evaluate performances and extend the contract accordingly. He is interested to work with coaches and train them,” said the organiser.

Meanwhile Jalal Yunus, director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board which will bear the expenses of the coach, assured that they would try to help the hockey federation with technical assistance such as providing physiotherapists and video analysts.