Aminul sticks by decision

Goalkeeper Aminul Haque yesterday turned down the Bangladesh Football Federation's appeal to reconsider his retirement decision to represent the country in the FIFA World Cup pre-qualifiers against Pakistan. Bangladesh will play their home match on June 29 before facing Pakistan on July 3 in Lahore.
“I stick to my decision of retirement from the international arena as I discussed the issue with my family members and well-wishers after getting a comeback call from the BFF on Monday,” said Aminul yesterday.
The country's number one goalkeeper tendered his retirement on Saturday citing a need to give more time to his family as well as making room for the upcoming players. Despite that he has been retained in the 27-member preliminary squad.
“It would have been a good feeling to call time from the field but I reached the conclusion after a long thought, though the sudden decision did pain me a lot,” said Aminul, who started his international career playing against Qatar in two exhibition matches in 1998.
“I am happy to represent Bangladesh in the international arena and I still feel proud of being introduced as a footballer,” Aminul said. “I am looking forward to playing domestic football with pride for the next four to five years.”
The former Bangladesh captain played his last match against Hong Kong at the Asian Games in 2010.