Booters get more time to train

The Bangladesh national football team hardly get enough time to prepare for any international tournament but for the SAFF Championship the national booters have been given two full months to prepare under the guidance of newly-appointed Dutch coach Lodewijk De Kruif in a bid to bring the coveted trophy of the subcontinent home for the second time.
Initially 35 footballers, including three expatriate players, were called up for the two-month camp and they are scheduled to report to manager Iqbal Hossain and local coach Syed Golam Jinali at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) House today.
The national team are also supposed to visit Thailand for a ten-day training programme and for a friendly match against Thailand on July 19.
Coach Kruif, his assistant Rene Koster and Dutch trainer Mohammet Yamali are scheduled to arrive here on Monday, although the training will start from Saturday at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Expatriate forward Jamal Bhuiyan is supposed to arrive on Saturday. The 23-year old marksman once visited Bangladesh for a trial for the World Cup pre-qualifying round in 2011 but returned to Denmark as he failed to cope with local conditions.
Australian-born Anando Rahman is supposed to arrive here on Sunday. The 20-year old attacking midfielder played for Balmain Tigers FC, Sydney City FC and Hurstville Zagreb FC from 2011 to 2012 in the Under-20 tournament.
Meanwhile, the SAFF Championship is scheduled to be held in Nepal from September 1 to 11.