'Strikers should fight for own place'
Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin has urged local strikers to fight against foreign ones to earn their place in club competitions and solve the scoring problem of the national team.
The game's governing body last season allowed only two foreign players in a match in the wake of the national team's defeat against Bhutan. However, this season the game's local governing body has backtracked on that decision by allowing four foreign players, which many think would shrink the opportunity for local strikers to hone their skills before playing international matches.
“In professional circuit, there is no way of making room for local strikers in the starting eleven; rather a player has to create his own place with performance,” Salahuddin told reporters at the reception of under-18 women's team at the BFF House yesterday.
“Personally I am against fielding four foreign players in a match but we were forced to do so as the clubs argued in favour of it following the AFC Cup regulations. We took the matter to the AFC and the AFC told us to follow its guidelines,” Sahaluddin explained.
“Allowing four foreign players in a league match is not a problem; the striker must secure his own place fighting against foreign players. We also fought against foreign players to secure our places in the starting eleven during our playing career. I myself was dropped in the first four matches for Mohammedan and then scored a brace in the fifth match and since then I never sat in reverse-bench,” said Salahuddin, who urged the players to perform the whole season for a club instead thinking about pocketing money by just sitting on the side-bench.
The Bangladesh team has long been suffering from lack of scoring. They scored only three goals in the three matches of SAFF Championship this year, and only one of those goals coming from a forward. The team managed a single goal in the recent Bangabandhu Gold Cup where they were knocked out from the semifinals.
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