Bangladesh football team coach Fabio Lopez sacked

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has sacked national football team coach Fabio Lopez and appointed Maruful Haque as his replacement.

Sport Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 24 Nov 2015, 10:15 AM
Updated : 24 Nov 2015, 11:48 AM

The decision came on Tuesday after the BFF’s National Teams Committee met to evaluate the national squad’s performance in the last five matches.

Committee chief Kazi Nabil Ahmed told reporters after the meeting that Lopez had been fired and Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra coach Haque would be the new coach.

The Italian took over in September last year from his predecessor Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif.

Lopez’s contract was until the SAFF Championship in December this year.

Bangladesh started with a 2-0 away defeat to Kyrgyzstan under their Italian coach in the Asian qualifiers for the 2018 Russia World Cup.

Lopez's tactics came under scrutiny after a 5-0 away defeat against Tajikistan. He played midfielder Mamunul Islam in the right wing while pulling forwards Shakhawat Hossain Rony and Abdul Baten Mojumdar Komol in the midfield.

Bangladesh had drawn 1-1 against Tajikistan at their backyard under Kruif.

Lopez's men were thrashed 4-0 by Australia in their seventh match of the qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Nov 17.

The decision to sack Lopez was hastened by Bangladesh's failure at the 2015 Yunnan ASEAN International Football Open in China.

They lost 3-2 to Myanmar club Hantharwady United before a 2-1 defeat against Chinese team Lijiang in the invitational tournament.