As many as 31 footballers among the 35 members of the preliminary squad reported to national team manager Iqbal Hossain on Friday for the forthcoming SAFF Football Championship.
Veteran left-back Wali Faisal, who is currently on a visit in India for personal reasons, informed that he will join the camp on Sunday while Jamal Bhuiyan and Anando Rahman, two expatriate footballers among three, will arrive in Dhaka on the same day.
The players will start training from today under the supervision of local assistant coach Syed Golam Jilani.
‘We will go through two practice sessions per day and initially focus on the players’ fitness and recovery as they were recently involved in the Super Cup,’ said Jilani.
Dutch assistant coach Rene Koster is supposed to arrive in the capital on July 1 along with a Dutch physical trainer Mohammet Yamali and the arrival date of Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif is yet to be confirmed.
Omar Faruq Babu, Nahidul Islam and Yusuf Sifat were selected for the first time by de Kruif during the Super Cup for their excellent displays in the recently-concluded tournament.
Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra midfielder Nahidul Islam thanked the Bangladesh Football Federation for
hosting the Super Cup without foreign players.
‘Before the Super Cup began, I couldn’t imagine that I would be selected for the national team. I got the chance due to the competition being only the local footballers’ affair. Now my only concern is to get a place in the best 11,’ said Nahid after reporting to the camp.
BJMC midfielder Omar Faruq Babu is prepared to fight with the established midfielders to ensure a spot in the playing XI.
‘The Dutch coach [de Kruif] picked me so he must have seen something special in me. Now I have to fight for my place alongside reputed midfielders like Mamunul Islam, Pranatosh Kumar and Arman Aziz,’ he said.
Biplob Bhattacharjee, the experienced goalkeeper who returned to the national fold after 18 months, expressed his confidence about reclaiming his number one position under the bar for the national team.
‘I have proved myself and came back to the national team. Now I want to establish my position as the nation’s permanent custodian,’ said Biplob, who led the national team in the last edition of the SAFF Championship in Delhi two years ago after which he was dropped.
-With New Age input
