Booters welcome Nepal friendlies
The national footballers are eagerly waiting to return to the ground through friendlies against Nepal -- slated for November 13 and 17 in Dhaka -- despite questions remaining about their preparedness to take the challenge following a long coronavirus-induced break.
Footballers had been training at home as per instructions from head coach Jamie Day till early August after the country's sports activities were suspended since mid-March and deferment of all international engagements due to the pandemic. The booters even started outdoor training at Gazipur from early August for the World Cup Qualifying fixtures in October and November but FIFA/AFC on August 12 again deferred the matches to the next year, leaving the national players, except the booters of Bashundhara Kings, sitting idle for the last one month.
In such circumstances, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has invited Nepal to play two international friendlies on the November FIFA Window.
Though the players have not yet been officially informed about the friendlies by the BFF or coach Day, the players are well aware of the friendlies due to media reports. And the booters seemed to be excited to return to action despite the lack of preparation.
"We have not been informed about the friendlies yet but Jamie always asks us to be ready because the training camp may get started anytime. Since the lockdown, Jamie has been in touch with all of the national players and recommended us to follow the training schedules," said midfielder Sohel Rana.
"We have been training individually but there is a huge difference between individual training and team training. It's a fact that we have to gain [match] fitness as much as possible within a three-week period to play these matches because we don't have alternatives." The Abahani midfielder is however ecstatic with a hope that they will return to the action in November after a long eight-month gap.
"Arranging such international matches is needed because all of us are out of action for a long period. Our football will return to the ground through these two international friendlies and the footballers will not only get a taste of football after a long gap but also the spectators and other stakeholders will also get the taste of football," said Sohel.
More than half of the national players including Sohel are perhaps out of training since mid-August. However, a dozen national players have been in the club training for Bashundhara Kings till October 15. The club management also asked the players to join the camp on October 30 before resuming training from November 1.
"The players of Bashundhara Kings won't face much problem to regain their fitness because they have been in training for the last one-and-a-half months but the players outside Bashundhara may face difficulties to get fit within a short period of time," said right-back Bishwanath Ghosh.
"We really want to return to the ground immediately and we are obviously happy with such an initiative that will also give us a platform to get prepared for December's domestic competition," said Ghosh.
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