Three new faces have made it to the 28-man squad called up for the World Cup qualifier against Palestine. Syed Shah Kazem Kirmani, Rabbi Hossain Rahul and Taj Uddin are in the red-green team for the first time. Javier Cabrera, the Spanish coach of Bangladesh, wants to proceed slowly with these three newcomers.
Kazem has been playing in Bangladesh Police FC jersey for two seasons. His midfield control skills set him apart from others. This time he got a chance in the starting eleven in eight out of nine matches in the league. The 25-year-old midfielder has been called up as he fits Cabrera’s footballing philosophy.
“We have been keeping an eye on Kazem for a long time, since he joined Police FC last year,” Kabrera told the team at a press conference at Bafuffe Bhavan on Thursday. Then we watched some of his training sessions, which really impressed us. He seemed to fit our style of play, our philosophy of football. I thought of calling him earlier too, but due to injury, I could not call him to the camp team. Now is his chance. He is young, take it slow. Hopefully, he will adapt well with the team.’
Rabbi Hossain Rahul came into the discussion after scoring a goal for Brothers in the first match of the league against Bashundhara Kings. The 17-year-old is the second highest scorer among locals with five goals at the end of the first phase of the league. Kabras, however, don’t want to heap expectations on Rahul right now, ‘To be honest, he hasn’t been in our scouting eye since the start of the season. He gradually began to perform well and scored five or more goals in the first phase of the league, one of them. We believe he deserves to be in the national team training atmosphere. Then let’s see what he can give us with so little experience.’
Taj Uddin got a place in the Bangladesh team in the Asian Games last September. But due to injury, he could not be part of the team. Javier Cabrera has caught the eye of Javier Cabrera for his performances in the right back position for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club this season. The Spaniard hopes that the 21-year-old will be able to adapt to the young team quickly, ‘Although he did not play much time in the last three matches for Sheikh Jamal, the quality he has shown in the previous matches, I hope he can adapt to the team.’
Bangladesh team will go to Saudi Arabia on March 2. A 15-day conditioning camp will be held at the King Fahad Sport City Stadium in Al Taif. From there, Bangladesh will go directly to Kuwait on March 17. The first leg match of the World Cup qualifiers will be held on March 21 against Palestine at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. And the second leg match will be played at King’s Arena on March 26 afternoon.
