Germany-based expatriate footballer Reasat Khaton arrived in Dhaka on Thursday with a dream to aid the national team in the forthcoming assignment of the SAFF Championship.
The 23-year-old German-based midfielder is coming to the capital city for the next two weeks but he ensured that if national team coach Lodewijk de Kruif selects him, his current employers BV Cloppenburg will provide him the opportunity to feature for the national team.
‘I am here to help the national team but I am not that confident about proving myself because I am still in the dark regarding the standard of the national team,’ said Reasat at the BFF House on Thursday.
He received some information about the standard of Bangladesh football from his Afghan friend Balal Arezou, who was the captain of the Afghanistan national team during the SAFF Football Championship in Delhi two years ago.
‘I knew Bangladesh football from my father. Some national players from Afghanistan, who play in the German league, also told me about the standard of Bangladesh. They also played against Bangladesh.
‘I know their [Afghanistan] captain as he is a good friend of mine. He [Balal] told me about Bangladesh. They said Bangladesh have good technique and they are quick and fast,’ said the midfielder, who recently recovered from a knee injury two and a half months ago.
Reasat, who left Bangladesh with his family when he was five years old, started playing football when he was only six.
‘When I was five years old, I moved to Germany. My hometown is Dhaka. When I was six years old, I started playing football. At first I started with a small club but when I was 14, they [SC Freiburg] picked me after watching my
performance and I joined there.
‘Many players of the club [Freiburg] are now playing in the Bundesliga. After that I played for the under-23 side of Hessen Kassel. I played around 23 games for them,’ he said.
‘I had a very big injury and could only play five games for Cloppenburg [joined last summer],’ he added.
Reasat said that he felt comfortable playing in left or central midfield and he went on to add that he was also a prolific goalscorer.
‘When I played for Lohfelden one or two years ago, I scored three in eight games in the first season and five goals from 12 games in the very next season. Due to injury I only played 12 times for Chemnitzer FC last summer. I did not score any goals but assisted with five goals,’ he said.
Reasat joined the national camp after starting with his preparation 20 days ago so he said that it might be tough for him at the beginning to adapt to the weather.
‘The coach [De Kruif] knew I had some problems. I informed it to the coach and he said “no problem”. I will try to prove myself and help the team,’ he said.
-With New Age input
