No Singapore fixtures
Trimmed U-23 squad moves to BKSP
The planned fixtures of the national under-23 team in Singapore have been cancelled due to official complicacies as the camp moved to BKSP in Savar with a trimmed contingent of 26 players.
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had planned two practice matches for the under-23 team against their Singaporean counterparts in Singapore, ahead of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers after getting an invitation from the Football Association of Singapore. But due to some official complications, the plan has been shelved and replaced by a couple of practice matches against local premier league outfits, claimed BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.
“They (Singapore Football Association) had told us that we would get on-arrival visa so we were looking to play the first match on the 18th of March. But now they have realised that on-arrival visa cannot be attained and it would take at least four days to complete the visa procedures, which we thought would hamper the team's preparations. That is why we had to cancel the planned tour,” Shohag told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, the 37-member initial squad was trimmed to 26 members yesterday as the players travelled to Savar BKSP to continue with the rest of the camp. Head coach Lodewijk de Kruif informed that he omitted 10 players – Omar Faruk and Ahsanul Haque of Abahani; Rakibul Islam, Sohel Rana and Fazle Rabbi of Sheikh Russel; Mohammad Ibrahim of Mohammedan SC; Jabed Khan, Naimur Rahman and Bishwajit Ghosh of Muktijoddha Sangsad; Rafi Rahman of Farashganj MFS - due to their performances after having watched them play. Krishna Mali of Rahmatganj, who has been suffering from chicken pox, did not join the camp.
The AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers begin on March 27 when hosts Bangladesh take on Syria. Bangladesh, pitted in group E, will play against Uzbekistan on March 29 and India on March 31.
SQUAD
Raihan, Yeasin, Sohel, Rubel, Toklish, Nahid, Fahad, Shahed, Shajib, Shakil, Badsha, Babu, Wahed, Liton, Tapu, Hemanta, Yusuf, Faisal, Jewel, Sujan, Anis, Mezbah, Rabbi, Nayeem, Absar, Masud.