Dutch head coach Lodewijk De Kruif has cut his 33-member preliminary squad down to 30 members ahead of naming his 23-member squad for the Thailand tour, scheduled for the last week of July.
Midfielders Arman Aziz and Shahedul Alam Shahed, and defender Uttam Kumar Banik were ruled out of the national team camp. Another camp invitee, USA-based midfielder Farhan Karim Khan, was also dismissed.
Arman, Shahed and Uttam had been out of the national squad for some time before their comeback to the preliminary national squad on the back of strong performances in the Super Cup. The local trio played in the first 45 minutes of the first practice match on Wednesday but failed to sufficiently impress de Kruif.
‘De Kruif wants to reduce his squad to 25 members from 33 and, as part of his plan, three players have been released on Thursday after the morning session,’ said manager Iqbal Hossain, `The coach told me to release them but he thanked the three players for the cooperation and said he would call them in future.’
Arman was disappointed with the decision but was confident that the team would perform well at the SAFF Football Championship.
‘I was confident to secure the final place, even after the practice match, but I was released from the camp today [Thursday],’ Arman said.
‘Maybe I lacked fitness because I was idle for most of the season before the Super Cup, but I hope the squad to be picked by the coach will produce a good result at the SAFF Championship,’ the midfielder added.
Like another expatriate player at the camp, Australia-based midfielder Anando Rahman, Farhan Khan found that conditions were not suited to him. He also recognised that his performance was not up to the mark.
Iqbal said that Farhan, who had joined the camp three days earlier, left the camp for personal reasons.
‘Farhan informed the coach that he left the camp due to some important work in his hometown, Washington, and also maybe he realised that his performance was not at the international level,’ Iqbal said.
-With New Age input
