Football: After losing to Qatar by one of the highest margins during the World Cup qualifiers on September 3, the Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) is now exploring measures to enhance the performance of the team.

Needless to say, the physical dominance of the Qatari players over the Bhutanese national team was crystal clear not only to the players on the filed but also to the thousands watching them on screen.

During a meeting between the team and the federation’s officials yesterday, strategies on improving the physical competency of the players while playing against stronger teams was discussed.

BFF president Ugen Tshechup Dorji highlighted the importance of physical control during a match. He said that the players need to build themselves in order to stand up against the physically superior opponents in the near future.

The president also suggested that a proper diet and gym routines be provided to the players. He said that if need be the federation should sign a contract with local gyms in the country.

One of BFF officials said that the federation is looking to set up a gymnasium for the players and hire professional trainers to guide and train them.

The president and officials also discussed the Japanese coach’s approach in handling the national squad. Acknowledging the coach’s contributions towards the team the president said that he has his own idea of training with the team but somehow his idea is not working well with the Bhutanese players.

Team manager Hishey Tshering said that because of the limited time the coach had spent with the team, he’s not able to understand their motive. “We’ve not been able to clearly inform him what we need from our team. We need to tell him the motive of our team,” he said.

The president said that the Japanese coach has his own style of training. He said the coach is responsible for the technical and tactical know-how of the game but that he needed to provide the players with more physical trainings to build their physical strength.

“Strength exercise is an integral part of the training,” said Ugen Tshechup Dorji.

During the meeting the federation also discussed on increasing the number of training sessions for the squad. The number of training sessions the national team undergoes is also comparatively less than what most other international teams follow. Currently the national team practices twice a week mainly because of the on going national league.

Younten Tshedup