Afghanistan booters land in Dhaka

The first contingent of Afghanistan national football team landed in Dhaka in the early hours of Sunday ahead of their two FIFA friendly matches against hosts Bangladesh.

The majority of Afghanistan's 25-member squad arrived first, while their foreign-born players from the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and others will start reaching the country today individually. It has been learnt that two of their players will arrive in Bangladesh on the first match-day.

The visitors are supposed to check in at Amari Hotel in Banani and train either at the Kings Arena or Bangladesh Police ground, subject to availability.

The two FIFA friendlies are scheduled to be held on September 4 and 7 at Bashundhara Kings Arena. Afterwards, Afghanistan will fly out here on Sept 8 to play another friendly against hosts Philippines on September 12.

Bangladesh-Afghanistan matches will serve as a tune-up for the two sides in their preparation for October's World Cup pre-qualifiers, where Bangladesh will face Maldives and Afghanistan will play against Mongolia.

Under the guidance of Kuwaiti coach Abdullah Almutairi, Afghanistan recently played two matches in CAFA Nations Cup. There, Afghanistan suffered 3-0 defeat to Kyrgyzstan  followed by a 6-1 thrashing by Iran.