Dooley's team on San Marino mission

The Bangladesh national football team left Dhaka to play its first match on European soil on Sunday afternoon (May 31).

This is the first assignment for new coach Thomas Dooley. The team will first travel to Rome via Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines, then travel by road for about six hours to reach San Marino. There, they will play a friendly match against the bottom team in the world rankings on June 6.

Bangladesh is 181st in the rankings, San Marino is 211th — a gap of 30 places. However, despite being behind in numbers, San Marino has experience competing at a large level thanks to its regular participation in the European Nations League. As a result, analysts believe that they have no chance of being left behind Bangladesh in terms of strength. If they fail to win, there is also a risk of a major drop in the rankings.

At the airport, experienced centerback Topu Barman said that many San Marino footballers play in Europe and they regularly take the field against European teams. However, Bangladesh will try to give their best.

Canada-based midfielder Kazem Shah said that the new coach focuses more on tactics, prefers passing football and gives more freedom to the players.

Hamza Chowdhury, Samit Shome and Zayan Ahmed will join the team directly after arriving in San Marino on June 2.

Tapu said that joining late will not be a problem as they have a good understanding after playing together for a year.

As all the tickets for the match have already been sold, the enthusiasm of the Bangladeshis living in Italy is clear. Hamza will find a familiar atmosphere even in an unfamiliar country in Europe.