Ronan and Declan Sullivan believe Bangladesh can dream bigger in football if the country makes better use of its talent around the world.
The twin brothers have already experienced what representing Bangladesh can mean.
They helped Bangladesh win the SAFF Under 20 Championship this year. Now they believe more players with Bangladesh roots could follow them and strengthen the national teams.
The Guardian reported that the brothers have noticed growing interest from overseas players since their success with Bangladesh.
“I think a lot of people saw what we did over there and saw how good of an experience that was, and now all of a sudden I’m seeing a lot of foreign players interested in playing for Bangladesh, a couple kids from England who are on pretty good academies over there, so we have talent all around the world. It’s just about utilizing that,” Declan said to The Guardian.
The brothers’ own Bangladesh journey started in an unusual way.
They first received a message from the Save Bangladesh Football page on Instagram.
“It all started with an Instagram DM, which is kind of crazy,” Declan said.
The page later helped connect them with Bangladesh Football Federation vice president Fahad Karim.
The twins saw an opportunity to play international football and also become closer to their Bangladeshi roots through their mother.
“[We had] a bit of time before college. It would be awesome to go play, represent the country, become more part of the culture,” Ronan said.
Getting everything ready was not easy.
Their mother did not have a Bangladeshi passport. That made getting their own passports more difficult.
The twins eventually travelled from New York to Delhi and then to Dhaka in March.
They did not arrive with guaranteed places in the Bangladesh Under 20 team.
More than 30 players were involved in the camp. The brothers had to earn their spots.
They also faced a language problem during their first few training sessions.
“When you’re foreign, it’s harder to get the ball at first because you don’t speak the language and maybe the guys weren’t super thrilled that we’re there. But once you get the ball a couple times and show what you can do, it helps out,” Ronan said.
The brothers soon settled into the group.
Their Bangladesh adventure then took them to the Maldives for the SAFF Under 20 Championship.
Bangladesh reached the final against India. The match finished without a goal and went to penalties.
Ronan had already decided what he would do if he got the chance to score the winning penalty.
His twin brother knew it too.
“He didn’t even need to say it. I knew he was gonna do that the whole time. I knew that if he got the last pen to win it, he was gonna do that. That’s just the him thing to do,” Declan said.
Ronan attempted a Panenka and scored.
The goal gave Bangladesh the title and turned the brothers into familiar faces among football supporters in the country.
Their experience in the Maldives also showed them the level of passion surrounding Bangladesh football.
That support continued when the team returned to Dhaka.
“That was a lot. Got a lot of flowers, met a lot of people. I feel like our team was the hot new thing in Bangladesh,” Declan said.
The twins were recognised while walking around the capital.
“We met a bunch of people, and everyone was so happy and so grateful that we brought the trophy back to the country. Like they were really, really hype about that, and that’s not something you would see in America [for] youth soccer,” he added.
The experience has left them thinking about what could be possible at senior level.
Bangladesh have never reached a FIFA World Cup. No country from the Indian subcontinent has played at a men’s or women’s World Cup.
For Declan, finding more players with Bangladesh roots could give the country a better chance in the future.
“Whenever I think about the 64 team [World Cup], I’m thinking, ‘Look, if we get all these players, we have a chance to qualify.’ Like, that’s the dream. That’s the ultimate goal,” he said.
Declan also named some players who could potentially become part of Bangladesh’s plans.
He mentioned former Philadelphia Union academy teammate and Penn State winger Nehan Hasan. He also named Stanford striker Trevor Islam.
The brothers hope more players will become available as Bangladesh continues looking across its large community abroad.
Senior national team coach Thomas Dooley also supports that approach, as long as the players can improve the team.
Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury has already become an important example.
“Everybody was happy that Hamza came in, and they understand, the players understand that international players can help them because they can look up to them,” Dooley said.
But the coach also believes Bangladesh must be careful when bringing players from abroad. He wants overseas recruits to be good enough to make a clear difference.
For Ronan and Declan, however, the possibilities are exciting.
They have gone from receiving an Instagram message to winning a trophy for Bangladesh.
Now they can see other overseas players considering the same journey.
And the biggest dream is already clear.
“I think the country would explode if we qualify for a World Cup,” Ronan said.
