Sri Lanka's defeats due to lack of team-work, says coach

By Prince Gunasekara in Kathmandu

The decision taken by the Sri Lanka Football Federation President Ranjith Rodrigo to appoint a three-member committee to probe the 10-0 defeat against Maldives, was lauded by the Sri Lanka football coach Brazillian Claudio Roberto Silveira.

The coach believes that Sri Lanka team lacked team work and there was too much of individual play which resulted in defeats in the first two matches.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Suranda Bandara apologised to Sri Lanka soccer fans for his team's pathetic display against Maldives. Bandara stated that his team will bounce back to regain its past glory in the future tournaments to make amends for its poor display in Nepal.

The skipper denied the allegations of a rift among senior players and juniors in the team and went onto state that its an attempt to see the downward trend of Sri Lanka soccer by certain individuals. He was disappointed as Sri Lanka were unable to produce an excellent performance though they were provided all facilities by Football Federation and the Sports Ministry.

Sri Lanka suffered two defeats against Maldives and Afghanistan in the first round and they were eliminated from the tournament and in the last match against Bhutan, Sri Lanka had a consolation 5-2 win. After the win, coach Silveira said he was disappointed when considering the way they were beaten in the first two games.

"We have learned from our mistakes and hope to have a serious discussion after returning to Colombo. I expect to reveal everything before the committee appointed by FFSL President Ranjith Rodrigo," he said.

"There were some strange things, which happened during the Maldives match. I couldn't believe as some incidents occurred and it made a puzzle for everyone," said Silveira. But the coach denied the allegation of match-fixing when a journalist questioned him. "I firmly believe that it should be looked into as how we were thrashed by 10 goals to nil and I hope we can develop football after a post match analysis. There is no doubt about that and no one will be disgraced as it should be accepted by all," the coach said.

Sri Lanka participated in three matches and scored six goals while they conceded 15 goals to the opponents. It is interesting as Mohamed Izzadeen scored four goals and the player was adjudged the man-of-the-match. After his excellent performance, Izzadeen told the media he was able to make maximum use of the support given by his teammates.

He praised the new Brazillian coach and told that Sri Lanka have lost only two matches out of nine after he took over as coach. Sri Lanka team left Nepal on Saturday at 1.30 pm and they will fly to Colombo via Bangkok today (Sunday).