Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif yesterday released four more players from his camp, reducing the number of players to 26, which all but makes up the touring party for national team’s Thailand engagement.
The exclusion of Arup Kumar Baiddya, Yousuf Sifat, Nahidul Islam Nahid and Tapu Barman trimmed the camp to 26, including two injured players — winger Zahid Hossain and striker Shakhawat Hossain Rony – and late call-up Rezaul Karim Reza.
The Dutch coach was supposed to declare his 25-member squad on Sunday, but took one more day after the second practice match against Team BJMC made him think twice. The 43-year old coach had expressed his dissatisfaction over defensive blunders by Kesto Kumar Bose and Nasiruddin Chowdhury, but both of them survived the cut.
De Kruif had earlier released three players – Arman Aziz, Shahedul Alam Shahed and Uttam Kumar Banik while expatriates Anando Rahman and Farhan Khan pulled out of the camp, having failed to impress.
It now looks like De Kruif has pinned hopes on those players who had played in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers or missed the qualifiers due to injury.
However, some new faces such as striker Wahed Ahmed, winger Mobarak Hossain, midfielder Omar Faruque Babu and expatriate midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan have found place in the squad, which is supposed to travel to Thailand on July 22 for a ten-day trip. It has been learnt that a couple of players may be kept back home for the tour of Thailand where Bangladesh will play two friendly matches against the Thai national team.
The four players released yesterday will however be kept as standby and the coach may call them before the SAFF Championship, scheduled for September 1-11 in Nepal, if needed.
Meanwhile, the national team is scheduled to play a third practice match against Arambagh tomorrow.
“I tried my best but the ultimate decision is the coach’s which you will have to accept,” said excluded Yousuf Sifat. “But, I am hopeful of securing a place in the squad in future by performing in domestic competitions.”
“We all felt the pressure till yesterday (Monday) but now feel bit relaxed after the squad has been trimmed,” said defender Kesto Kumar. “The coach rectified the mistakes that we made during the second practice match. At present, the training is going on in full swing.”
Winger Mobarak, who drew the attention of De Kruif through his Super Cup performance, echoed the sentiment of Kesto but felt that there was still stiff competition among the players to get into the final squad.
Goalkeeper: Biplob Bhattacharjee, Mamun Khan, Shahidul Alam Sohel and Ziaur Rahman.
Defender: Ariful Islam, Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Rezaul Karim, Yeamin Munna, Kesto Kumar, Wali Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Meshu and Raihan Hasan.
Midfielder: Mamunul Islam, Pranotosh Kumar, Jamal Bhuiyan, Omar Faruque Babu, Mithun Chowdhury, Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Mezbabul Haque Manik, Zahid Hossain and Sohel Rana.
Striker: Zahid Hasan Emily, Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Toklis Ahmed and Wahed Ahmed.
The exclusion of Arup Kumar Baiddya, Yousuf Sifat, Nahidul Islam Nahid and Tapu Barman trimmed the camp to 26, including two injured players — winger Zahid Hossain and striker Shakhawat Hossain Rony – and late call-up Rezaul Karim Reza.
The Dutch coach was supposed to declare his 25-member squad on Sunday, but took one more day after the second practice match against Team BJMC made him think twice. The 43-year old coach had expressed his dissatisfaction over defensive blunders by Kesto Kumar Bose and Nasiruddin Chowdhury, but both of them survived the cut.
De Kruif had earlier released three players – Arman Aziz, Shahedul Alam Shahed and Uttam Kumar Banik while expatriates Anando Rahman and Farhan Khan pulled out of the camp, having failed to impress.
It now looks like De Kruif has pinned hopes on those players who had played in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers or missed the qualifiers due to injury.
However, some new faces such as striker Wahed Ahmed, winger Mobarak Hossain, midfielder Omar Faruque Babu and expatriate midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan have found place in the squad, which is supposed to travel to Thailand on July 22 for a ten-day trip. It has been learnt that a couple of players may be kept back home for the tour of Thailand where Bangladesh will play two friendly matches against the Thai national team.
The four players released yesterday will however be kept as standby and the coach may call them before the SAFF Championship, scheduled for September 1-11 in Nepal, if needed.
Meanwhile, the national team is scheduled to play a third practice match against Arambagh tomorrow.
“I tried my best but the ultimate decision is the coach’s which you will have to accept,” said excluded Yousuf Sifat. “But, I am hopeful of securing a place in the squad in future by performing in domestic competitions.”
“We all felt the pressure till yesterday (Monday) but now feel bit relaxed after the squad has been trimmed,” said defender Kesto Kumar. “The coach rectified the mistakes that we made during the second practice match. At present, the training is going on in full swing.”
Winger Mobarak, who drew the attention of De Kruif through his Super Cup performance, echoed the sentiment of Kesto but felt that there was still stiff competition among the players to get into the final squad.
Goalkeeper: Biplob Bhattacharjee, Mamun Khan, Shahidul Alam Sohel and Ziaur Rahman.
Defender: Ariful Islam, Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Rezaul Karim, Yeamin Munna, Kesto Kumar, Wali Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Meshu and Raihan Hasan.
Midfielder: Mamunul Islam, Pranotosh Kumar, Jamal Bhuiyan, Omar Faruque Babu, Mithun Chowdhury, Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Mezbabul Haque Manik, Zahid Hossain and Sohel Rana.
Striker: Zahid Hasan Emily, Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Toklis Ahmed and Wahed Ahmed.
Comments
Post a Comment