Booters off to Lebanon

Bangladesh football coach Nikola Ilievski talks to the press while captain Biplob Bhattacharjee looks on at the BFF House yesterday.Photo: STAR

Bangladesh football embarked on its most important journey ever when the 20-member national team left for Beirut last night to take on Lebanon in the away leg of the FIFA World Cup pre-qualifying Round-2 on July 23.
Bangladesh have never made it to the group phase of the Asian zone of World Cup qualifiers before, but everyone including the coach, captain and the players believe that this time they can make it by beating Lebanon, who are fourteen places below Bangladesh in FIFA rankings, over the two legs.
“Lebanon may be favourites on paper considering their home advantage, but I believe my players have the quality to beat them. My players have trained strictly and in a disciplined way and I worked on formation and system to combine the eleven who would be the toughest players on the pitch,” said Bangladesh coach Nikola Ilievski yesterday.
The 56-year old Macedonian also said that he now has a clearer idea of the side than prior to taking on Pakistan, whom they beat 3-0 on aggregate to move to round-2. And with the inclusion of defenders Mohammad Sujan, Wali Faisal, midfielder Pranotosh Kumar and striker Mohammad Robin, he might be opting for a 4-1-4-1 formation, which may again turn into 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending on the situation of the match.
“Before the Pakistan match at home, I had no choice in selecting the squad but this time I had conducted seven sessions in five days and watched 6 Super Cup matches before picking the squad that is stronger than the squad that played against Pakistan,” said Ilievski.
The Macedonian coach said that even though they would be satisfied with a point from the away game, he would opt for attacking football rather than defensive.
Ilievski conceded that he does not have much insight into the Lebanon side, but felt it was more important to know his own players and have confidence in them.
“I believe my players have the quality to beat Lebanon, who have lost 0-1 to Oman, 0-6 to Kuwait and 2-6 to UAE. Even though Lebanon have made 11 changes in the team, that means that they were trying to find the right team, I feel we have got every chance against them” said Ilievski.
Captain and goalkeeper of the side Biplob Bhattacharjee was also upbeat about putting on a good show against Lebanon: “We know we stand on the brink of a great opportunity, Bangladesh football will get a big boost if we can move to the next round and the players are ready to give their best, they are motivated to do that,” said Biplob.
Meanwhile, striking duo Zahid Hasan Emily and Mithun Chowdhury, who played on hire in a local match in Manikganj on Tuesday, have been kept in the squad in the greater interest of the national team, but the football governing body would look into the mater after the matches against Lebanon.
“Both of them admitted that they played on hire and begged pardon and they have been allowed to travel with the national team, but we will definitely take actions against them after the matches against Lebanon,” said BFF vice president Badal Roy.
SQUAD: Biplob Bhattacharjee (GK/C), Ziaur Rahman, Mamun Khan, Mamun Mia, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Mohammad Sujan, Ariful Islam, Rezaul Karim Reza, Nasirul Islam, Wali Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Pranotosh Kumar, Monaem Khan Raju, Mamunul Islam, Zahid Hossain, Shakil Ahmed, Abdul Baten Komol, Mohammad Robin, Mithun Chowdhury and Zahid Hasan Emily.