Aikman rues inexperience but hails Bangladesh's ‘positive hockey’

Bangladesh U-21 hockey team head coach Siegfried Aikman said his side's lack of exposure at the highest level made the decisive difference in their 3-2 defeat against group leaders France in Chennai on Tuesday, even as he praised the team's structure, intent and overall performance in their maiden Junior World Cup campaign.

Bangladesh began the tournament with a fighting 5-3 defeat against Australia before holding Asian powerhouse Korea to a 3-3 draw. Their spirited 3-2 loss to France in the final group match meant they finished third in Group F — level on points with Korea but ahead on goal difference -- a commendable outcome for a team playing its first-ever World Cup.

Reflecting on the match against France, Aikman said Bangladesh executed their game plan with discipline and maturity despite the intensity of the contest.

"We played a very good match. We tried to be composed, calm, disciplined and structured. We tried to attack where possible and prevent them from attacking. We played positive hockey," Aikman told T Sports after the match. "We didn't only defend. We didn't play madman's hockey. We played good structured hockey for the future. We tried to accelerate where possible, play 2-v-1, create opportunities. We created opportunities. We also gave some opportunities away."

Photo: AHF

He stressed that Bangladesh's limited experience in high-tempo fixtures was telling against a seasoned French side.

"The more experienced team could handle it better than we did, because we have no experience in this kind of matches. It's very high pace, high-level hockey -- and you don't play that in Bangladesh," he said.

Asked whether experience was the only difference between the teams, Aikman agreed.

"I think so, because if you look at it, we were almost equal. The score was 3-2, but we had chances. We could have even equalised if they had given us the stroke which we deserved," he added. "France didn't miss many chances, and our PC defense was good, PC attack was good. All the elements, the building blocks, were good."

Having completed the group stage with impressive progress in Chennai, the Bangladesh team will now move to Madurai for the classification matches (17th–24th), starting against Oman on Thursday.