Injury rules out Sohel for Nepal, Qatar matches

Shahidul Alam Sohel, the long-serving goalkeeper of the Bangladesh football team, has been ruled out of the squad with a back strain.

The Abahani goalkeeper was supposed to play against Nepal in the first match on Friday, but it has now emerged that he suffered an injury in training which was confirmed in an MRI on Friday. 

The veteran goalkeeper, who has made his fair share of costly blunders as well as excellent performances for the Red and Green, left the squad and went back to his club today.

"This is an old injury which aggravated in training. Looks like I will be out for a few weeks. Not sure whether I will be able to play the Federation Cup (starting on Dec 19)," Sohel told media today.

In absence of Sohel, Bangladesh will rely on the three other keepers in the squad, namely Ashraful Islam Rana, Anisur Rahman Zico and Pappu Hossain, for the second FIFA friendly against Nepal on Tuesday and the World Cup qualifier against Qatar on December 4.

Zico made his debut against Nepal on Friday while Pappu is yet to play for the Red and Greens. Rana is a tested performer for the team.