Bangladesh takes on a magical form whenever the FIFA World Cup comes around. Every four years, the entire country seems to transform into ‘Brazil’ or ‘Argentina’ piece by piece.
This town is awash with miles of flags, giant jerseys, and the magic of the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., or Lionel Messi. The world media is amazed by the frenzy of a football-mad nation.
But when the lights of this dazzling festival fade, a cruel and gray reality emerges.
The world stage is a distant dream, and the Bangladesh football team has not been able to win the SAFF, the premier tournament in South Asia, for the past 23 years.
Since 2003, crossing the line of safety has become an unbreakable wall for the red-green jersey holders. And domestic football is paying the price for this abject failure.
The spectators have turned away from the stadium with a heavy heart. Yet these same people do not hold back from expressing their emotions during the World Cup.
Although the past of Bangladeshi football was not so bleak. At one time, when Abahani and Mohammedan faced each other in the Dhaka League, the entire country would come to a standstill. From tea shops to drawing rooms; there was a war of words everywhere. Not only these two giants; there was no space in the gallery to watch teams like Victoria, Wonders, Brothers or Warri Club play. There was a clamor for tickets.
According to those concerned, the seventies and eighties are considered the golden age of football in Bangladesh. After independence, the country’s football quickly became popular and Dhaka’s field-centric football culture took shape into a kind of social frenzy. The duel between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Abahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka First Division Football League was one of the country’s biggest sporting attractions. On important match days, the number of spectators at Dhaka stadiums would exceed 50-60 thousand, and thousands of people outside the field would listen to the commentary on the radio.
During that time, Bangladeshi football saw the rise of several legendary players. Among them were Kazi Salahuddin, Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu, Monem Munna, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam and Badal Roy. The Bangladesh national team was also in a competitive position in South Asia at that time. Participation in the Asian Games and various international tournaments in the eighties made the country’s football more popular.