New-look booters face Bhutan today

Having officially taken over the job of steadying the rocking boat of Bangladesh football just two weeks ago, Tom Saintfiet was dealt a crucial blow when he saw his side go down to a crushing 5-0 defeat against Maldives in a friendly fixture in Male last Thursday. The defeat seems to have altered some of his plans for today's Asian Cup Qualifying Playoff against Bhutan as the coach sprung a big surprise by omitting six players from the squad along with skipper Mamunul Islam.

Terming the Bhutan fixture as a crucial and difficult encounter for Bangladesh, the Belgian named his 23-member squad, which is a mixture of some experienced players alongside a number of young ones who have not yet been tested at the highest level. The coach explained his decision to omit Mamunul.

“The problem started two weeks ago when five players including Mamunul decided to leave the team and play for the Navy team,” Saintfiet explained. “I have never seen this in my life. He returned from that game with an injury. He didn't help his country with that. His replacement [Mohammad] Abdullah did very well and did exactly what I wanted. So my choice was whether to pick a player who went to play for Navy and got injured a bit or one who stood out and played well and I made my decision accordingly.”

The list of omissions also includes veterans such as Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Yeamin Munna, Wali Faisal, Pranotosh Kumar as well as fringe players such as Mohammad Nehal, Sentu Das and Aminur Rahman Sajib. With defensive midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan and winger Sohel Rana already missing due to suspension and injury, the coach's job of eking out a positive result in the first leg of this fixture will be very hard.

“The other players I omitted because they could not perform under pressure in the second half against Maldives in the way they should have, being experienced players. If we analyse that match and the training sessions in Dhaka, we could not take the risk of having them, especially against Bhutan who have speedy players,” the coach defended.

The former Togo coach has decided to stuff his side with forwards and attacking players as he wants to take a victory to Thimphu for the away leg in a month's time. The 43-year-old Belgian, however, said they cannot go all-out against their opponents today as the Bhutanese forwards are speedy and can catch Bangladesh on the break.

“I will be happy with a win no matter where the goal comes from. It will be nice if we don't concede a goal. If its 1-0 I'm happy; if its 2-0 I'm more happy; if its 3-0 I'll be even more happy,” Saintfiet said. “But we can't attack blind because if we do so, Mr. Chencho Gyeltshen will be free and score, which will put us in deeper trouble.”

In Mamunul's absence, goalkeeper Ashraful Islam Rana was introduced as the captain of the side. The Chittagong Abahani goalkeeper said: “I was not mentally prepared for the role of captain. But tomorrow [Tuesday] is one of the most important matches of the Bangladesh national team and we are determined to put our best to win the match at any cost. There are no external pressures and we will take the field just to win.”

Bhutan coach Pema Dorji informed that they got only three weeks' time, and a friendly against India which they lost 3-0, to prepare for this match. “We are used to practising on artificial turf back home, but here the match will be held on grass. So it is very difficult for us. On top of that the pitch is very heavy,” the Bhutan coach said.

The match kicks off at 7:00pm at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

BANGLADESH SQUAD

Goalkeepers:  Ashraful Islam Rana (C), Shahidul Islam

Defenders: Raihan Hasan, Monsur Yamin, Topu Barman, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Enamul Haque Sharif, Rezaul Karim, Ariful Islam, Mamun Miah

Midfielders: Atiqur Rahman Fahad, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Jewel Rana, Didarul Alam, Emon Mahmud

Forwards: Mahadi Hasan Tapu, Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Nabib Newaz Jibon, Mehbub Hasan Nayan, Mohammad Abdullah, Zafar Iqbal, Sohel Rana, Rubel Mia