Nigerian born Bangladeshi forward Eleta Kingsley has been included as the only new face of the coach Oscar Bruzon’s 26-member preliminary squad of Bangladesh for the SAFF Championship scheduled to be held from October 1-16 in the Maldives.
The Bangladesh SAFF preliminary squad was announced through a press conference held on Wednesday at conference room of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Bhaban.
The Bashundhara Kings’ striker Eleta Kingsley, however, yet to receive clearance from FIFA in order to be eligible to play for the Bangladesh national team.
The BFF must continue to try to get clearance from FIFA until the last minute.
The Spanish born Bangladesh national football team’s newly appointed coach Bruzon’s 26-member squad included a total of ten Bashundhara Kings players, most o any club, five from Abahani Limited and four from Saif Sporting Club.
Bruzon will be in charge of Bangladesh national football team for the SAFF Championship after the BFF relieved English coach Jamie Day from his duties for the next two months.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will hold their first training session on Thursday afternoon at Bangabandhu National Stadium in order to take preparation for the SAFF Championship under the supervision of coach Bruzon.
Bangladesh will start their SAFF Championship mission taking on Sri Lanka on the opening day of the championship.
Bangladesh will play their second match against strong India on October 4 before playing the hosts Maldives on October 7. Bangladesh will then face Nepal in their final match of the championship on October 13.
26-memebr squad: Anisur Rahman (GK), Bishwanath Ghosh (DF), Topu Barman (DF), Tariq Raihan Kazi (DF), Biplo Ahamed (FW), Mahbuibur Rahman (FW), Mohammad Ibrahim (FW), Eleta Kingsley (FW), MD Matin Miah (FW), Mohammad Atiqur Rahman (MF), Sahidul Alam (GK), Sohel Rana (MF), Saad Uddin (MF), Jewel Rana (FW), Tutul Hossain (DF), Rahmat Mia (DF), Riyadul Hasan (DF), Yeasin Arafat (DF), Jamal Bhuyan (MF), Rakib Hossain (MF), Manik Hossain Molla (MF), Razaul Karim (DF), Mohammad Atikuzzaman (DF), Ashraful Islam Rana (GK), Mehedi Hasan (DF) and Suman Reza (FW).
