'You can't build a team like that': Butler hints at off-field turmoil after 10-0 drubbing
Bangladesh women’s football team coach Peter Butler took ‘full responsibility’ for his side’s 10-0 capitulation against North Korea at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, while hinting at off-field issues and citing a lack of opportunities for young players to develop their game.
“As a coach, who sets his team up to play a certain way, we went against all those principles today, which disappointed me. Sadly, we got hammered and we deserve it. I take full responsibility for that, on the pitch, off the pitch, I don’t,” Butler said in the post-match press conference in Osaka, Japan.
“They [North Korea] play a tempo which our girls are not used to. In truth, we are not good enough at this level to play against the quality of that team,” he added.
Butler had kept star players Ritu Porna Chakma and Monika Chakma off the starting XI, and kept his faith on youngsters.
But the decision backfired as his charges were seven down inside the first half. Butler brought in Ritu, Monika in the second half, where Bangladesh conceded three more to suffer their worst-ever defeat in women’s international football.
The English coach explained he had fielded a younger side to preserve his experienced players for their third and final group-stage match against Myanmar.
“What I tried to do is limit their workload. Because bear it in mind, this result, whether we lost 1-0 or 10-0, won’t really matter because our objective is the Myanmar game. The South Korea game will probably be very much similar to what you have seen today, but we’ve got to go back, we have got and get a little bit of a shakeup and see where we go from here.”
Bangladesh will get just two days before their next match, which is against South Korea on Thursday, before concluding their campaign against Myanmar on September 21.
Butler also pointed out the lacklustre state of women’s domestic football in Bangladesh, saying he used the match against North Korea – ranked 11th in the world – as an opportunity to give the young players a taste of top-tier football.
“We got very young players out there. We got one girl who was only 15 [Airin Khatun]. Now, whether that’s right or whether that’s wrong to actually implement a policy of developing young players… maybe a lot of people, maybe the head of the women’s wing [Mahfuza Akhter Kiron] doesn’t like the development side of our work. So that draws us into a different conversation.
“What you got to remember is that we don’t have a bona fide league… And there’s issues regarding what’s going on. I can’t control what goes on off the field.”
Butler, whose contract is set to run out at the end of this year, thanked Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Tabith Awal for his support but hinted at other issues troubling the side.
“The president's been really supportive. Other people are having conference calls with the players in the middle of the night, you can’t build a team like that.
“I’ve been around the block, I’ve coached many other national football teams. So, I’m not stupid. And I know when things are working against you, which is really, really unfortunate for these young girls because I’m here for them.”