Kings players finally join nat’l training
All footballers, barring the injured Bishwanath Ghosh, yesterday joined the national team's preparation camp for the June World Cup Qualifiers after defending Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings finally allowed their players to join.
Bashundhara Kings were scheduled to leave Dhaka on May 9 to take part in AFC Cup matches in Maldives between May 14-21, but that trip was cancelled after the AFC postponed the Group D matches due to Covid-19.
Instead of allowing them to then join the national camp, Bashundhara Kings released all their players on May 10 and sent a letter to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) seeking assurances that the World Cup Qualifiers in Qatar would be held on time.
After that development, the BFF permitted a four-day Eid-ul-Fitr break to all other players, who checked into hotels between May 10-12. In the meantime, Kings changed their mind and released nine of the 10 players included in the squad. They did not allow Bishwanath Ghosh, who has been recovering from knee injuries sustained while playing for the national team during the Tri-Nation Cup in India in April.
"We have Covid-19 tests and the weigh-in today. Training will start tomorrow," said head coach Jamie Day, who returned to Dhaka on May 11 along with goalkeeping coach Les Cleevely. Assistant coach Stuart Watkiss came back on May 14.
Day's charges are now scheduled to have four days of training in Dhaka before heading to Qatar on May 21 for the second phase of their preparation ahead of the seven Group E matches of the World Cup Qualifiers that will be held in Doha between June 3 and 15.
India are supposed to reach Doha on May 19 while Oman will have their third and final-phase preparations in the UAE and are likely to play two practice matches against Thailand and Indonesia. Day also wanted to play a couple of practice matches in Qatar before facing Afghanistan on June 3, but the BFF has not fixed any yet.
Day will have to work less on the fitness of his players relative to coaches at other neighbouring nations as Bangladeshi footballers had the opportunity to play in domestic competitions while many others, including Indian players, have not been getting match experience.
Without any prospect of reaching the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers, bottom-placed Bangladesh can still gain direct entry to the 2023 Asia Cup as the third-best team in the five-team Group E. They could also book a direct ticket to the Asia Cup by finishing among the best four of the teams that finish fourth among the eight groups.
However, with Bangladesh having only one point from five matches, even those appear distant dreams. Captain Jamal Bhuiyan said he wanted to produce good results without thinking too much.
"I expect all players will be very motivated for the upcoming games and that we will get some good results in Qatar," Jamal said said ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr break.