BFF picks Ord for nat'l team
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is set to give charge of the national football team to Andrew Ord, an English-born Australian coach who has worked with A-League side Perth Glory as an assistant coach for the past four years after brief spells in Thailand and Myanmar.
The 37-year-old, who played semi-professional football with non-league clubs in England before turning his hands to coaching, is expected to join the national team at the start of the next month, BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag confirmed last night.
"The National Teams' Committee (NTC), in its meeting today [Wednesday], decided to appoint Andrew Ord as the head coach of the national team, considering everything including the coach's experience of working in Asian countries as well as his time as a scout for the Australian Football Federation. The decision has been finalised and the contract will be signed within the next week or ten days. We expect Ord to join the team early next month," Shohag said over phone.
While the senior national team has no immediate assignment, with the Bangabandhu Gold Cup likely to be played in December and the SAFF Championship no sooner than March or April next year, the Australian coach is expected to guide the under-23 and under-19 teams in their AFC assignments this year. It has been learnt that the contract could be for a one-year term.
Ord was reportedly one of three coaches -- the other two being Italian and Spanish -- shortlisted by the NTC for the head coach's position recently. The appointment of Ord is going to be another u-turn on the part of the local game's governing body from their stance of choosing high-profile coaches.
The Bangladesh team's head coach's position has been vacant since the team's defeat against Bhutan in the second leg of their Asian Cup qualifiers in October last year, ending the three-month reign of high-profile Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet.
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