Bangladesh Football Team announces squad

Bangladesh coach Jamie Day yesterday disclosed a 24-member squad of the national team for this month's tri-nation tournament in Nepal with the inclusion of five new faces and exclusion of nine players from the squad that played against Qatar in World Cup Qualifiers last December.

The exclusion of some proven campaigners from the squad was expected due to their poor performances as well as not getting much game-time for their clubs in the Bangladesh Premier League. The inclusion of new players like Bashundhara Kings' defender Rimon Hossain and Mohammedan's free-kick specialist Habibur Rahman Shohag was expected but the inclusion of three other players -- defenders Mohammad Emon and Mehedi Hasan and forward Mehedi Hasan Royal – all from Muktijoddha Sangsad, was really surprising.

Out of the nine exclusions, center-back Tapu Barman and forward Nabib Newaj Jibon were not considered due to injury while the likes of Yeasin Khan, Mohammad Ibrahim, Pappu Hossain, Towhidul Alam Sabuz, Atiqur Rahman Fahad, Raibul Islam, and MS Bablu could not impress the coach in the first phase of the Bangladesh Premier League. Apart from those nine players, former captain Mamunul Islam, Raihan Hasan, and Sushanta Tripura traveled with the squad in Qatar but they were not in the squad there.      

Asked about the exclusion of proven campaigners, Day said, “I found better players than them. The players I picked performed well in the first phase of the league. Few players are lucky to get in the squad though even they haven't played the whole of the games they did enough in the past to be selected.” Apart from the five new faces, six players -- Masuk Mia Jonny, Matin Mia, Shahidul Alam Sohel, Tutul Hossain Badsha, Mohammad Abdullah, and Rakib Hossain – staged comebacks.

Replying to a query, Day said, “My target is to see if these players are good enough for the Bangladesh national team. I want to win every game but not worried to lose the games. There are many new players in the squad and it is an opportunity for me to see whether they are better than the players who played for Bangladesh previously. If they are good, we are ready to go into June. If they don't perform well, we will keep our eyes on the players who have previously been selected for the national team, are better, and take them to the June qualifiers. So it is a good opportunity for me that these players are good enough to be selected for our main target of June.”

Day has also kept Jamal Bhuiyan in the squad but he is not certain whether the Bangladesh captain will join the squad in Bangladesh or in Nepal after playing his last match for Kolkata Mohammedan on March 21.  A BFF official informed that Kolkata Mohammedan verbally agreed to release Jamal for the Bangladesh team and Jamal's joining the squad will officially be communicated with the BFF after Mohammedan's I League play-off match against RoundGlass Panjab today.

GK: Anisur Rahman, Ashraful Islam and Shahidul Alam

DF: Bishwanath Ghosh, Tutul Hossain, Rahmat Miya, Yasin Arafat, Rimon Hossain, Mohammad Emon, Mehedi Hasan and Habibur Rahman

MF: Jamal Bhuiyan (Captain), Biplu Ahmed, Masuk Miya, Sohel Rana, Manik Mollah, Rakib Hossain and Mohammad Abdullah

FW: Mahbubur Rahman Sufil, Matin Miya, Sumon Reza and Mehedi Hasan Royel

Standby: Mitul Marma, Atikuzzaman, Abu Sahed, Rahim Uddin, Imran Hasan Rimon, Faisal Ahmed Fahim, and Mohammad Zuwel