Kingsley, Sazzad left out of 23-member SAFF C’ship squad

Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera on Friday left out Eleta Kingsley and in-form forward Sazzad Hossain from the 23-member squad for this month's SAFF Championship. 

The national football team are scheduled to leave for Phnom Penh tomorrow to play a friendly match against Cambodia as part of their preparation for the regional football extravaganza.

Nigerian-born Kingsley of Abahani, who made debut for Bangladesh in a friendly against Seychelles in March, was the top scorer among the local players in the Bangladesh Premier League and Federation Cup. He scored eight goals in BPL and one in the Fed Cup. 

Meanwhile, Mohammedan's Sazzad Hossain recently turned up with good performance in the professional football league by scoring three goals.

Apart from Eleta and Sazzad, other notable exclusions were defenders Tutul Hossain Badsha and Rimon Hossain, who were dropped following their injuries. Winger Shahriar Emon, midfielder Masuk Mia Jonny and goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Sraban, who were in the 30-member preliminary squad, also did not make the final squad due to their performance.

Attacking midfielder Sheikh Morsalin and winger Rafiqul Islam are the two new faces in the squad.

Bangladesh will play a friendly match against Cambodia on June 15 before heading to India from Cambodia to take part in the SAFF Championship which is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 4.

Bangladesh squad:

Anisur Rahman Zico, Shahidul Alam, Mitul Marma, Tapu Barman, Bishwanath Ghosh, Tariq Raihan Kazi, Rahmat Mia, Alomgir Hossain Molla, Mehedi Hasan, Isa Faisal, Mohammad Ridoy, Sohel Rana, Sheikh Morsalin, Jamal Bhuiyan, Mojibur Rahman Jony, MD Sohel Rana, Rabiul Hasan, Faisal Ahmed Fahim, Mohammad Ibrahim, Aminur Rahman Sajib, Rakib Hossain, Suman Reza and Rafqiul Islam.