Bangladesh national football team will have at least seven international matches guaranteed in 2015 and with a little luck, the number could be much higher, officials said on Thursday. Bangladesh will begin their year with the Bangabandhu Gold Cup this month when they will play at least two matches at the group phase. They are also confirmed of at least two play-off matches in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers, which will begin simultaneously this year.
The Asian Football Confederation has rung in structural changes to its premier competitions to improve the quality by making Asian football more competitive.
With the new structure, the lowest ranked teams will play home-and-away over two legs to reduce the total number of teams to 40.
The 40 teams will be divided into eight groups to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up of the second round will advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers as well as qualify for the AFC Asian Cup finals.
If all 47 AFC members send their entry, top 33 ranked Asian teams will directly play in the group stage and rest will be decided through play-off.
However, if one team refrained from participating in the qualifying round, top 34 teams will get a chance directly in the group phase.
Bangladesh are currently ranked 34th in the Asian rankings, which means they have a fair amount of chance to get a direct entry in the group phase.
The cut-off date in this regard is February 10, when also the draw of the tournament will be held. Even if Bangladesh do not get a direct entry they can easily qualify as they will play the play-off match only against a lowest ranked team instead of any regional giants.
The preliminary round is scheduled from March 12 and 17.
Bangladesh Football Federation officials said the 11th edition of SAFF championship is also scheduled this year when Bangladesh national team will play three matches at the group phase.
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin said they are also trying to arrange three to four FIFA Friendly matches in 2015 in order to give Bangladesh footballers more exposures.
‘We want to continue hosting FIFA friendlies in this year like previous years,’ Salahuddin told reporters on Thursday.
‘Though national teams are going to spend a busy year, we want to arrange FIFA friendlies against some Asian giants, which will help the team to prepare for the competitive meets,’ Salahuddin added.
Besides, Bangladesh Under-23 national team will play at least three matches in March’s AFC Under-23 Championship qualification, which is also part of the qualification process for the 2016 Olympics.
To accommodate so many international fixtures, the BFF said it is also reviewing the domestic calendar.
Salahuddin said they are planning to defer the Independence Cup, which is usually held in March.
Meanwhile, the residential camp of national team for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup began on Thursday with 19 players among 26-member preliminary squad joining on the first day.
Skipper Mamunul Islam is suffering from fever and midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan is on vacation in Denmark. The other players missed the opening day’s training due to strike.
-With New Age input
