Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dooley says he never expected Ibrahim to score the goal that gave Bangladesh a 1-0 win over Bhutan in their SAFF Championship opener on Thursday.

The substitute came on in the 63rd minute and decided the game just two minutes later.

Bishwanath Ghosh was tiring, and Dooley wanted a player who could hold the ball so Shamit could move forward.

“Ibrahim was a perfect guy in the midfield. We needed somebody who could also hold the ball and wait until Shamit, Rakib and Fahim came into position. Shamit had done a lot of work as a number 10 in midfield, always getting into those pockets to receive the ball from the defence and play it forward, but then he wasn't in the forward position. So I thought, you know what would be great? We take Bishwanath out, put Ibrahim as a number 10 and move Shamit up front so he can save his legs a little bit when he is in front of goal, maybe get a good header and put it in. I didn't know, or I wasn't thinking, that Ibrahim could score. I was more thinking that he would set somebody else up, but hey, that's good. A footballer can do that.”

Ibrahim had been left out of the ASEAN Cup squad, but Dooley said he earned this call-up through his performances in training.

“When you're coming into a new country, you don't know all the players. You have to figure out which players have what kind of quality and whether you can count on them. Sometimes you don't see anything in training and you send them home, like with him, and then he scores a goal and assists a goal. Then you think about what he did there that he didn't show us. They are sometimes shy, and they have to show over a period of time what kind of quality they have. He showed that this time in training, and that's why I was happy to keep him and have him in the game.”

The bigger talking point was Bishwanath Ghosh at number nine. He usually plays at the back, yet Dooley used him up front, saying Bangladesh have no natural striker and must find one. He told Bishwanath about the plan a week before the game.

“We don't have a number nine. We have to find one. Bishwanath is a very aggressive player. When we went to San Marino, I told him that it was very dangerous for me to put him in his usual centre-back position because he plays with such intensity and aggression that there is a risk of conceding a penalty or getting a red card. That's why I said the only other position could be right-back. He can play there too, but even at right-back you sometimes have to get into the box. So I had to play him as a right forward in place of Rafi in San Marino, and he did an excellent job. He had two chances against the goalkeeper and assisted the second goal. The energy he brings up front makes it very difficult for defenders when someone like him comes along. He doesn't stop; he goes at full power, and that's what I like about him.”

Dooley considers centre-back too risky for him, because his aggression could cost a penalty or a red card.

He can also play right-back, but Dooley prefers him in attack. In San Marino, he excelled on the right, creating two one-on-one opportunities against the goalkeeper and assisting the second goal.

“I spoke to him last week and told him I had a plan for him. Saad is playing excellently on the right side, and Tariq is excellent in defence, so it is very difficult. But I want to let him play. I want to put him in a position where he can help us the most, and that is up front. As a number nine, you need to go where it hurts, and he is not shy of that. He goes there. That's why I was hoping so much that he would get a chance to score. Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to get the ball in, but I am very happy with him.”

Topu Barman missed out after feeling muscle discomfort in training. He initially felt ready to play but told the staff towards the end of the warm-up that he could not continue, and Shakil replaced him. Dooley insists nobody should play at 50-50 fitness, with 80 per cent the minimum.

“He was training and everything was fine. We talked about it, and he said, ‘No, I feel good. I can play.’ Yesterday evening in training, he took a shot or played a diagonal ball and said he felt something in his leg. He felt it was okay last night, so he could still play. But when he woke up this morning, his muscle felt tight. Nico was working with him, loosening up his muscle, and he said, ‘Oh no, it's great actually. I don't feel anything anymore.’ We said that if he warmed up and felt he could play, that would be fantastic. But he was 50-50, and I said 50-50 is not good enough. We need to be 100 per cent, at least 80 per cent. He doesn't have to play long balls, but he has to organise the defence and be good in one-on-one situations. Right before we finished the warm-up, he said, ‘I can't.’ So we said, ‘Okay, good.’ Q had warmed up with the team, so he was ready to play, and he did a good job.”

The winner was somewhat fortunate, and Dooley regretted the chances missed during spells when Bangladesh dominated, passing the ball well but rarely threatening with enough players in the box. It was Bangladesh’s first SAFF Championship match, and the win keeps them on course in Group A.

“Overall, I am obviously happy with the game. We won the game; we wanted to get the three points, so that was okay. We had 20 or 30 minutes, maybe, in the first half, and around 20 minutes in the second half when we moved the ball around very well and created chances. We actually had a lot of opportunities, but you can only score goals when you have players in the box. We had one or maybe two players against seven or eight, and that's what we want to change a little bit.”

Dooley wants the number 10 and number 8 to arrive in the box when crosses come in, so defenders are pulled inside and second balls can be collected for shots from 18 yards. Fahim, for instance, stayed outside the area too often early on.

“We knocked the ball around very well and had a lot of combinations on the wings, getting the ball into the box. But we need to understand that the number 10 has to be there, and maybe the number 8 has to be there as well. Especially the wing players, like Fahim in the first half, when there were so many crosses and he was still outside the box. We need to load up the box to score. Then more of their players have to come into the box, and if they clear the ball, we can win the second ball and take shots from 18 yards. That's what the game plan was.”

Bangladesh faded after those spells, with several players suffering muscle cramps, and Bhutan found space for about 15 minutes. Dooley said tired players tend to drop deep, which makes things harder, and he had asked at half-time for the midfielders to push higher.

“When you're getting tired, you want to save a little bit and you don't want to play too risky. You think that when you drop back, it's actually easier, but it's actually more difficult. That's what we changed at half-time. We talked about it; we need to step up and push our midfield players, our central midfield players, forward, marking the opposition so they cannot play out through the middle.”

“If they have space, they can play. They are quick and they also have good touches. As long as we can have body contact with them and put them under pressure, I think we will be fine. For 15 minutes, we were dropping too far away from them. We will obviously talk about the reason with the team, but I am happy with the way we played. There is no question about that.”

He was pleased with a compact defence, saying the side had learned lessons from recent matches against Indonesia, and with the three points. Dooley said the players could not maintain their first-half intensity for 90 minutes and that the team would discuss why concentration had slipped.

“I think the defence was very organised. That was a key factor for us. We need to learn from those games in Indonesia that we have to be much better organised, not like a chicken without a head. We worked on that, and I think it looked very good today.”

Dooley also hoped more fans would come for the next game after a thin crowd, saying those present had still lifted the players. Bangladesh next face Sri Lanka on 11 November, and he sees room for improvement in the final third.

“I don't know how many people showed up, but I think it was enough to get our players energised, to run and work hard. We won the game, so maybe now the players or fans who didn't show up will think, ‘Next time I have to go because I don't want to miss that again.’”