Rakib, Saad suspended for Lebanon match

Forward Rakib Hossain and defender Saad Uddin will not be eligible to play when Bangladesh host Lebanon in their second World Cup qualifying fixture at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on November 21.

Bangladesh suffered a 7-0 thrashing by Australia in their opening match in Melbourne on Thursday and will host the Lebanese, who were held to a goalless draw by Palestine in the other group match on the same day.

Both Bangladesh and Lebanon teams are in Dhaka now, the hosts having arrived last night following a long journey from Australia while Lebanon had arrived earlier yesterday morning. 

Rakib and Saad, two very important players of the team, received yellow cards in the match against Australia. They had also received yellow cards against Maldives in the qualifying playoff last month.

According to the FIFA regulation, the disciplinary actions from the playoff round will count during the group stage too, the Bangladesh team management learnt through a e-mail from FIFA after landing in Dhaka on Friday night.

The suspensions come as a blow to coach Javier Cabrera's plans of salvaging a result against Lebanon following the demoralising start to the campaign.

The last time Bangladesh had met Lebanon was in the SAFF Championship earlier this year when the middle eastern side won 2-0.