De Kruif gets boost upfront

The return of veteran strikers Enamul Haque and Towhidul Alam Sabuj has given the national football team's coaching staff more options in the front ahead of two friendly matches against Singapore and Afghanistan.

Scoring has long been a problem for the national team and the inclusion of in-form Enamul and Sabuj will bring some hope to Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif, who is trying Enamul in different positions.

Enamul has so far struck 14 goals in the season -- nine in the league and five in Federation Cup -- while Sabuj scored six -- four goals in the league and two in the Federation Cup.

"The inclusion of Enamul and Sabuj has more or less increased the diversity in the attack and we see it positively because we already have strikers like Emily, Wahed, Sajib and Toklish," said assistant coach Saiful Bari Titu yesterday.

A 31-member Singapore team is scheduled to arrive here tonight to play the match on May 30 while Bangladesh will play their second warm-up match against Afghanistan on June 2 before their joint-qualifiers for the World Cup and Asian Cup against Kyrgyzstan on June 11 and against Tajikistan on the 16th.

Former national booter Titu hinted that they might field two teams against Singapore and Afghanistan due to shortage of time in between the two friendlies.