Booters leave for Qatar tomorrow

The Bangladesh national football team will leave tomorrow night for Qatar for a two-week training camp as part of their joint preparation for August's Asian Games and September's SAFF Championship.

Bangladesh have been drawn in Group B in the Asian Games' men's football event alongside Qatar, Uzbekistan and Thailand.

In Qatar, the booters will play two practice matches against either Qatar U-23 or club teams like they did last March ahead of the friendly against Laos under the guidance of Andrew Ord.

This time, newly appointed English coach Jamie Day will guide the team and try to get better acquainted with his charges during the matches as the 38-year-old has spent only two weeks with the team since joining last month.

42 players were called up to the preliminary squad, which was trimmed to 28 players after a one-month training camp, but some key players such as goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel, Towhidul Alam Sabuz, Nabib Newaj Jibon, Jewel Rana and Rubel Mia opted out in order to fully recover from injuries.