28-member preliminary squad for ASEAN Cup

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has announced a 28-member preliminary squad ahead of the FIFA ASEAN Cup to be held in Indonesia. The national team camp will start from August 27 under head coach Thomas Dooley. Before that the players have been asked to join the camp tomorrow.

However, no footballer playing in foreign leagues has been included in the preliminary squad. Baffufe has informed that they will join the team later. Currently playing abroad are Hamza Choudhury, Shamit Som, Tariq Kazi, Cuba Mitchell, Zayan Ahmed and Fahmidul Islam.

The FIFA ASEAN Cup is being held for the first time involving the countries of Southeast Asia. Bangladesh was invited after India withdrew its name from the tournament. That invitation has been approved in the executive meeting of BFF.

The tournament will be held in Jakarta of Indonesia from September 24 to October 4. In Group A Bangladesh has hosts Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Group B has Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Pakistan.

A new chapter of Thomas Dooley as coach of the Bangladesh team is starting with this tournament. The team will take the field for practice on August 27. For the time being the main goal is to bring the players under one umbrella and utilise the proper time for preparation.

In the 28-member preliminary squad the goalkeepers are Mitul Marma, Sujan Hossain, Mehedi Hasan and Anisur Rahman. The defenders are Topu Barman, Shakil Ahad, Biswanath Ghosh, Saad Uddin, Taj Uddin, Rahmat Mia, Abdullah Omar, Shakil Hossain and Isa Faisal. The midfielders are Jamal Bhuyan, Sohel Rana Senior, Sohel Rana, Mohammad Hridoy, Sheikh Morsalin and Kazem Shah. The forwards are Rakib Hossain, Shahriar Emon, Faisal Ahmed, Manjurur Rahman, Minhajul Karim, Rafiqul Islam, Mohammad Ibrahim, Saurav Dewan and Rabbi Hossain.