U-23 camp may see players picked from trial

Bangladesh Football Federation's technical director Saiful Bari Titu said that the three-day trial of 49 footballers concluded on Tuesday at the National Stadium was the beginning of the process, adding that the process will further come to a conclusion once these players are set up against the ones who are already in the system.

Titu, who was on Monday handed a six-month extension on his job, said that they would not do injustice to anyone but the only thing in consideration for selection would be to strengthen the national team.

"This was just the beginning. I don't think we need to rush to any decision about them…..We have video footages of every individual player. The first two days, we took overall videos while on the third day we had zoomed videos of individuals.  We have wyscout app to analyse them and get a report on them," Titu told media at a press briefing at the BFF House on Tuesday, with most of the coaches who evaluated the players over the three days beside him.

The former national team coach implied that there might not be anyone from this trial who would be chosen for the senior time while the players age does not make them eligible for the under-17 level. With no under-19 team assignment this year, the only immediate consideration could be the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers in September.

PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

"We will start under-23 camp towards the end of July. We will definitely consider players from this trial for that camp. We have to ensure the quality through scrutiny and also make sure that the local players are not ignored.

"We don't want to do injustice to anyone. But this evaluation will take some time to finish. And you will see when someone among these players is called up for a camp," Titu said. "Our aim is to strengthen the national team. We will not have any other considerations here. If you are a good player, you will play for Bangladesh."

Titu said that the players who have gone through this trial will only be fully tested once they are put a training camp alongside the local players.

"There must have been talents at this trial. But the talents have definitely not tested here fully. They will be tested in the next stage. When we put them in our system, against the players that we already have, only then can we judge whether they are ready to play for Bangladesh," Titu noted.