New coach Dooley aims to take Bangladesh inside 160 in FIFA rankings

Newly-appointed Bangladesh national football team coach Thomas Dooley has set his sights on improving the country’s FIFA ranking and taking the side inside the top 160.

The 65-year-old arrived in Dhaka on Friday morning and was officially unveiled later in the day at the Kool BSPA Sports Award ceremony in the capital.

A former USA international with 81 caps who captained his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Dooley has built a reputation for transforming teams, most notably guiding the Philippines to a historic AFC Asian Cup qualification.

Speaking after his unveiling, Dooley said raising Bangladesh’s ranking would be one of his key objectives, though he stressed it would take time.

“My goal is to get the ranking up. It’s 160, 150... it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process,” Dooley said.

“If the goal has to be realistic, it’s realistic to get under 160, not tomorrow, but maybe in a year.”

Bangladesh, currently ranked 181, had often been criticised under former coach Javier Cabrera for failing to get the best out of the team by integrating foreign-based talents such as Hamza Choudhury and Shamit Shome with the local players, while also adopting an overly conservative approach. With the Spaniard at the helm, the men in red and green could never get inside 180. 

Dooley indicated he wants Bangladesh to play proactive, possession-based football.

“I love to play football. I don’t like to chase football,” he said.

“I’m telling the players that. Chasing means you run for nothing. I like to play football.”

Dooley also highlighted mentality as a crucial factor behind long-term success.

“One of the pillars is mentality. Mentality cannot be trained, it’s the way you think. We have to think about football and what we need to do, then we can achieve it,” he added.