BFF names 29-member primary squad for UK tour
Bangladesh national team football coach Lodewijk de Kruif sprung a surprise on Thursday when he picked three foreign-based players in his 29-member
preliminary squad for the forthcoming UK tour.
Bangladesh will play two international friendly matches against India and Pakistan in London on June 1 and 8 respectively as part of a tri-nation series, organised by the India-based Celebrity Management Group.
The Bangladesh Football Federation informed that they were completely in the dark over the selection of Jamal Bhuiyan, Ananda Rahman and Reasat Khaton, although none of them were unknown to the governing body of football of the country.
Denmark-based Jamal participated in a trial ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in 2011 but he could not be considered for selection because of a passport complicacy. The BFF was unable to obtain a Bangladeshi passport for him forcing the then
coach Nikola Ilievski to ignore the talented midfielder.
Of the two other players, Reasat is a 23-year-old midfielder who plays for German fifth-tier side BV Cloppenburg. The BFF admitted they had no clue to Kruif’s other choice, Ananda Rahman. The only piece of information they could provide was that Ananda is an Australia-based Bangladeshi.
`I guess (Lodewijk) de Kruif chose them when he attended a trial of expatriate Bangladeshi footballers in the UK soon after he took over as
the Bangladesh coach,’ said Bayezid Zubair Nipu, technical director of the BFF.
`We have no knowledge about them and we have no clear idea about
when they will arrive,’ he said.
The preliminary squad will start training on May 15 and de Kruif is expected to join the squad three days later.
Apart from the foreign-based players, the team have two new faces in Brothers Union’s attacking midfielder Yusuf Sifat and Team BJMC midfielder Omar Faruque Babu. Sheikh Jamal defender Ariful Islam and Sheikh Russell KC winger Nasirul Islam Nasir returned from injury.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Shahidul Islam, Maksudur Rahman,
Mamun Khan;
Defenders: Waly Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Ariful Islam, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Raihan Hasan, Tapu Barman, Rezaul Karim, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Kesta Kumar;
Midfielders: Pranatosh Kumar, Mezbabul Haque Manik, Sohel Rana, Mamunul Islam, Nasirul Islam, Shakil Ahmed, Zahid Hossain, Omar Faruque Babu, Yusuf Sifat, Jamal Bhuiyan, Reasat Khaton, Ananda Rahman;
Strikers: Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Abdul Baten Mazumder Komol, Zahid Hasan Amely, Mithun Chowdhury,
Toklis Ahmed Tonmoy.
-With New Age input
