The 23 young booters, who will receive training at the David Beckham Academy in London, pose for photograph with officials at a reception accorded by their sponsor Emirates at a local hotel yesterday.Photo: STAR

Dream comes true for 23 budding footballers who will leave for England on October 26 for higher training.
The journey began two years ago with 4,500 footballers joining trials, organised by Canary Wharf, UK, for this final leg where they will spend three weeks at the David Beckham Academy in London.
The Canary Wharf Bangladesh Youth Football Academy, brainchild of the UK real estate company, announced in August 2006 in presence of the then British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury that it would hunt talents from all corners of the country and train them to contribute in development of the game.
From the 4,500, the coaching staff of the academy headed by former international and Bangladesh coach Golam Sarwar Tipu picked up 155 for long term camp and selected the final 23 with help of visiting British coaches.
Renowned for their worldwide support for football, Emirates is sponsoring the whole programme from the beginning.
"This academy started with 4,500 young hopefuls and 23 footballers have been selected from this large group. During this period, we have facilitated the travel of coaches from London to Dhaka for various training sessions. And today we are happy to be facilitating the travel of these young footballers to the home of English football so that they may sharpen their skills," told Emirates' area manager Bangladesh while addressing a reception it accorded to the footballers.
"You are the tigers of the future. I hope you would represent the national team one day. Also, you have to set standards on and off the field in England and at home," he added.
Coordinator Fazlur Rahman Babul, also a member of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), thanked Canary Wharf and Emirates for coming forward with a training programme of this magnitude.
"The three weeks at Beckham Academy will greatly inspire and immensely benefit the players. We have two more years to go in the four-year project and we want to do it honestly," said Babul. "If we can make just one player fit to play in the English semi-professional league, we will this project as successful."
The English FA will accord a reception to the academy team at the Wembley on October 30 while they will train at the famous West Ham Academy from November 3-7 apart from visiting Arsenal FC and playing a couple of friendly matches.
"Most of the boys came from poor families where they did not have proper nutrition. It was hard for them to come this far without the support from the academy," said head coach Tipu.
"I never even dreamed of going to England. At the academy I've seen how football can change a man's life," told one of the 23 players, Aminul Islam from Rajshahi.
BFF vice-presidents Badal Roy and Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir also spoke on the occasion.
Seven officials will accompany the academy team, which return home on November 14.
The players: Sohel Rana, Shojib Chowdhury, Aminul Islam, Sujon Ali, Loknath Debnath, Sajidur Rahman, Sujoy Mallick, Rahat Ahmed, Sehab, Nadim Mahmud, Mohammad Ashak, Topu Barman, Jashim Uddin Chanchal, Arifur Jaman, Rabby Bhuiyan, Saroar Hossain, Mohammad Anuzal, Pial Hossain, Anik Barman, Sabbir Ahmed, Omar Faruk, Farhadur Zaman.