Bangladesh national football team started their training camp on Monday for their friendly match against Japan Under-21 scheduled on December18, with also keeping an eye on Bangabadhu Gold Cup. All 23 members of the squad reported to coach Saiful Bari Titu except captain Mamunul Islam and Denmark-based midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Monday morning.
‘Though we are going to prepare us for the friendly match against Japan U-21, but our main focus will be to prepare ourselves for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup,’ said coach Titu.
After the Japan friendly is over, the players will be given a couple of days rest before the resumption of training for the Gold Cup, scheduled in January.
Titu hinted that some new players could be called up in the camp once he completed an assessment on the fitness condition of the current squad.
Most of the players of the 23-member squad were in action in the recently concluded King’s Cup in Bhutan but there are some key members — Zahid Hasan Ameli, Zahid Hossain, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Mithun Chowdhury, Atiqur Rahman Meshu and Rasel Mahmud Liton — who remained sitting idle since the friendly series against Sri Lanka in October.
They are expected to sweat it out to return to their desired fitness level, though Titu appeared little concerned.
He rather wants to focus on the strategic aspects of the game before the Japan match.
‘Though most of the players have been involved in King’s Cup and right now I know very little about the players fitness level, I asked all of them to keep their fitness level up to the mark for the friendly.
‘After some training sessions certainly I will get a clear idea about their fitness level’, Titu added.
Titu was also keenly looking towards the Japan friendly as he thinks that his charges can learn a lot by playing against such a top level side and can judge their difference with them.
Ace forward Zahid Hasan Ameli, who scored two goals in as many games against Sri Lanka, thinks that it is almost impossible for him to be fully fit before the Japan match.
‘To be honest, I played the Sri Lanka series only being 30-40 per cent fit. So it is not possible for me to be 100 per cent fit before the Japan match. But I will try my best to be fit as much as possible,’ said Ameli.
Midfielder Zahid Hossain, however, was not concerned with his fitness.
‘I am not worried with my fitness. I played the Asian Games with only five days of preparation and has been the best performer of our squad, so far. I always try to give my hundred per cent whatever the condition is,’ said Zahid.
Defender Atiqur Rahman Meshu, who started an individual training session after recovering from an injury, admitted that the players will not be able to be 100 per cent fit for the Japan friendly but he was certain that all of them will be at their best during the Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
-With New Age input
