Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dooley has dropped six players from his squad as preparations continue for the FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia.
Dooley initially called up 28 players from the domestic league for the training camp. He later gave several overseas based footballers a chance to train with the national team.
After several days of training, the coach has started to trim his squad.
Bangladesh team manager Amirul Islam Babu confirmed that Yasid Tahmid, Debajit Sarkar, Isa Faysal, Quazem Shah, Taj Uddin and Rahul have been dropped.
“As time goes on, the preliminary squad gets smaller. As part of that normal process, the coach has dropped Yasid Tahmid, Debajit Sarkar, Isa Faysal, Quazem Shah, Taj Uddin and Rahul. Another player will be dropped after today’s training. However, he has not yet told us how many players he will take to Indonesia,” Babu said.
Isa is an experienced fullback for Bangladesh. He had been out of the national team for more than a year under former coach Javier Cabrera.
Dooley brought Isa back into the starting XI against San Marino in his first match as Bangladesh coach. However, Isa has now been left out of the ASEAN Cup squad.
Quazem and Taj were also part of Bangladesh’s tour of San Marino. They have also been left out this time.
Overseas based footballers Yasid and Debajit were given the chance to train with the national team. However, they could not do enough to keep their places in the squad.
US based goalkeeper Saif Kerawala has performed well in training so far and remains with the team.
Quazem, Isa and Taj have already left the team hotel after being dropped. Rahul remains at the hotel.
Neither Dooley nor the Bangladesh Football Federation has explained why the players were dropped. Competition for places in their positions could be one reason.
The ASEAN Cup will begin in Jakarta on September 25. Bangladesh are scheduled to leave for Indonesia on September 19.
Before leaving, Bangladesh will play a warm up match against Fortis in Dhaka on Thursday.
