Saintfiet names 23 for Maldives friendly

Bangladesh national team's head coach Tom Saintfiet yesterday announced a 23-member final squad for the international friendly against Maldives,  with the inclusion of four new faces.

The friendly is scheduled to take place in Male on September 1 as part of the team's preparation for the Asian Cup play-off qualifier against Bhutan on September 6.

Major exclusions from the 23-member preliminary squad are: Captain Mamunul Islam, defensive midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan, winger Jewel Rana and defender Atiqur Rahman Meshu.

Mamunul has been in rehabilitation following his left thigh muscle injury; Jamal is not available for the Bhutan fixture due to his one-match international suspension while Jewel and Meshu have been dropped due to poor form.

The exclusion of Mamunul and Jamal has seemingly prompted Saintfiet to pick four new midfielders -- Mohammad Abdulllah and Jafar Iqbal of Arambagh KS, midfielders Didarul Alam of Rahmatganj MFS and Sentu Chandra Sen of Uttar Baridhara Club – all for the first time. 

Apart from the new faces, defensive midfielders Prantosh Kumar Das and Enamul Haque Sharif have staged a comeback after a long period. Prantosh had last played for the national team in 2013 while Sharif represented the red and green for the last time in 2009. In-form winger Rubel Mia and striker Sohel Rana have also returned to the squad two and five years respectively after first making it through to the final squad, even though they did not feature in the playing eleven that time.

Though Saintfiet was not available for comments, manager Iqbal Hossain said that the coach has picked some players on the basis of their performance while he picked some others who match his playing style.

The Belgian coach, who went on a three-day vacation for the birth of his child, will join the team in Maldives. The 23-member squad will fly out of Dhaka at 12:05pm today.

SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS

Shahidul Alam Sohel, Ashraful Islam Rana

DEFENDERS

Raihan Hasan, Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Tapu Barman, Mamun Mia, Ariful Islam, Wali Faisal, Rezaul Karim, Yeamin Ahmed Munna 

MIDFIELDERS

Prantosh Das, Enamul Haque Sharif, Sohel Rana, Emon Mahmud, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Jafar Iqbal, Mohammad Abdullah, Sentu Das, Didarul Alam

STRIKERS

Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Nabib Newaj Jibon, Rubel Mia, Sohel Rana