Preliminary squads for the four matches of the World Cup and Asian qualifiers in October-November have been announced. Among the 36 members is expatriate footballer Kazi Tariq Raihan.
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced the squad in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
Initially, Bangladesh coach Jamie Day will camp with 36 footballers. Step by step the team will be made smaller with the best.
Finnish expatriate Tariq Kazi is playing for Bashundhara Kings in Bangladesh Premier League. The defender signed a three-year deal with the team in November last year. The 19-year-old Tariq made his debut for the Kings in February this year.
Father Kazi Shahidul Alam's house is in Naogaon. Mother is from Finland. Tariq was born on October 6, 2000, in the city of Tampere. Elves Tamper started his football career. He also played in Finland's under-16 and under-19 teams. Despite the opportunity, he came to Bangladesh to play in a red-green jersey.
If all goes well, Tariq will play in the national team as the second expatriate player after Jamal Bhuiyan.
Jamal, an expatriate from Denmark, made his debut for the Bangladesh team in 2013. The midfielder is currently the captain of Saif Sporting and the national team.
All of the players called up will be tested for Covid-Nineteen. After that the team will start organizing on the basis of performance. At this time, everyone must be in isolation. The main camp will be from the third week of August.
Tabitha Awal, BFF vice-president and co-chair of the National Teams Committee, said: "We are going to start the camp on August 5 to prepare for the remaining matches of the World Cup qualifiers. Before that I got a list of 36 people from the national team coach (Jamie Day). Which we have given to the media. There may be two FIFA friendly matches before the main match. If any footballer is sick or injured in the camp, 36 footballers are being called so that other players can stay fit. '
Jamie Day's team will play against Afghanistan on October 6, Qatar on October 13 and India and Oman on November 12 and 16, respectively. The only match against Qatar will be in Doha. The rest of the matches are scheduled to be played in Sylhet.
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