'We should apologise' — Shamit Shome to fans after defeat to Pakistan

After beating Sri Lanka 4-0 to reach the semi-finals, hopes around Bangladesh football had risen again. But a 1-0 defeat to Pakistan on Saturday night ended Bangladesh's bid to reach the SAFF Championship final. After the semi-final exit on home soil, midfielder Shamit Shome did not shy away from the team's failure — he apologised to the supporters.

Bangladesh have now returned empty-handed from the SAFF Championship after the Asian Cup qualifiers and the ASEAN Cup. Speaking of the fans' disappointment, Shome said: 'We feel very bad for Bangladesh, especially for the supporters who spent money to come and watch the game at the stadium. On behalf of the whole team — all the players and staff — we should apologise to them all. Now we have to bounce back. First the Asian Cup qualifiers, then the ASEAN Cup and now SAFF — all together we are upset. But in the new year we have to improve again.'

Shome believes the reason for the slump against Pakistan after the commanding win over Sri Lanka was that the confidence from the big win in the previous match had turned somewhat into complacency. Bangladesh also fell behind Pakistan in experience.

Shome said: 'Because we played so well against Sri Lanka, maybe everyone thought a bit too much that this match would be easy. But Pakistan played with a completely different combination and a different formation. That made things a bit different for us. There can be no excuses, but their team is very experienced. They have big players who are used to playing big matches like semi-finals or play-offs. We probably did not have that much experience.'

Shome also said the team could not match Pakistan's pace and tactics in the match. In his words: 'Throughout the match we probably could not keep up with their pace. The match was more or less under our control, but their plan was quite strong. They knew how to hurt us and set out a good strategy accordingly. We could not adapt to it, and two or three times we probably showed a bit of inexperience. Playing at home, we may have thought we would be the attacking side, but they surprised us once or twice.'

Beyond the opponents' tactics, Shome admitted the team's own preparation was lacking. He said: 'But yes, we were not properly prepared for this match. Our players are hurting badly. If you look, everyone is crying, everyone is upset. It feels very bad to see that, but we have to bounce back again.'

Goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Srabon had kept Bangladesh's hopes alive in the gallery until the 85th minute, turning away goal-bound shots from Ali Uzair, Adil Nabi and Ali Khan. But his own mistake in the 86th minute shattered the dream of reaching the SAFF Championship final after 21 years.

Shome also regrets that the expectations created among supporters after the Sri Lanka win could not be met in the defeat to Pakistan. But he urged fans to stay with the team, saying this defeat is not the end of everything.

Shome's final words were: 'After the Sri Lanka match a good feeling was created among everyone, we were able to inspire everyone. But losing like this, we have fallen a long way from the top. We all know this performance was not good enough. But such things happen in football. I apologise to all the supporters of Bangladesh. We will definitely bounce back — please do not lose hope in us.'