Saintfiet's moment of truth
Tom Saintfiet hinted yesterday that he had all but decided on ninety per cent of the players he would keep in the 23-member final squad, to be announced today, for the October 10 away fixture of the Asian Cup Qualifying Playoff against Bhutan. The squad, which will be trimmed from a 33-man squad that trained over the last four days, will be announced after the coach watches an XI v XI practice match among the players at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium.
Bangladesh were held to a goalless draw by Bhutan in the first leg last month and the men in red and green will need to get at least a scoring draw if not a win in the second leg to progress to the final stage of the qualification rounds.
After watching a few rounds of the Bangladesh Premier League, the Belgian coach called up a number of new players to his 23-member squad for the first leg in Dhaka. He started with Ashraful Islam Rana, Rayhan Hasan, Topu Barman, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Shakhawat Hossain Ronny, Enamul Haque Sharif, Rubel Mia, Mohammad Abdullah, Jafar Iqbal and Sohel Rana, with the last three having only one cap each before that fixture.
However, things did not go as expected as Bangladesh wasted a number of chances and were eventually held to a goalless draw, making things difficult for the coach to eke out a result in the away fixture, which will be played in the high altitude of Thimphu and on synthetic turf.
Ahead of next week's crucial fixture, the Belgian again called up a number of veteran players alongside a few fresh faces. Forwards like Zahid Hasan Emily and Enamul Haque returned while midfielder Mamunul Islam also made it back to the squad and defender Yeasin Khan returned after serving his suspension. Three young forwards -- Saad Uddin, Sarwar Zaman Nipu and Mohammad Ibrahim -- have also been called up as the coach is desperate to find goals from somewhere.
However, the coach has hinted that he will not be making wholesale changes to his 23-man squad, and that there could only be a maximum two to three changes in the starting eleven.
“I do not want to make too many changes,” Saintfiet said.
“I have only called one player back, who is Mamunul,” the coach claimed, referring to the fact that he had omitted Mamunul from the first leg fixture. “I only invited them [Nipu and Saad] to see how they are. I never saw them playing, so I want to see their quality. There is always possibility to be picked,” Saintfiet added further.
Whether or not these young players make the cut or the veterans return to the final squad, it will be interesting to note what the starting eleven will be like and whether the players who are relatively untested at the international stage and those making a return after a long break can fit into Saintfiet's style of play and his formation.
Whatever Saintfiet does for the good of the country, his legacy will be judged on whether Bangladesh can cross the Bhutan hurdle, the failure of which could spell the end of the Belgian's stint, and a long international absence for the Bangladesh team.
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