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Camp starts amid fitness concerns

Sports Reporter
The Bangladesh national football team started their preparation camp for the December 18 friendly against Japan U-21 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday, with an eye on preparation for January's Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Tournament.
A total of 21 players, except for skipper Mamunul Islam and midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan, reported to coach Saiful Bari Titu and manager Amirul Islam Babu at the BFF House in the morning before having the first practice session at the BNS under floodlights.
"Though we are going to pre-
pare for the friendly against Japan U-21, our main focus is the Bangabandhu Gold Cup," said Titu before the first practice session.
The players will be rested for a few days after the Japan friendly before resuming the camp at the BKSP for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Titu hinted that some new players may be called up to the camp, subject to fitness of the current players.
Majority of the 23-member squad had been in action in the recently concluded King's Cup in Bhutan but the fitness of some key players, who sat idle for a few weeks, is a cause of concern for Titu. The interim coach wants to focus on the tactical aspects of the game rather than concentrating on the improvement of fitness in a
short span of time before the Japan friendly.
"Though most of the players had been involved with the King's Cup, their last match was on December 2 and I don't know their current fitness level. Those who were not in the King's Cup have also been asked to keep their fitness up to mark for the friendly and I will get a clearer picture in training."
Key players like Zahid Hasan Emily, Zahid Hossain, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Mithun Chowdhury, Atiqur Rahman Meshu and Rasel Mahmud Liton, who did not take part in the King's Cup, have been out of action since the two-match friendly series against Sri Lanka in October and they may need rigorous training regimes to take
their fitness level high.
"To be honest, I played against Sri Lanka with 30 to 40 per cent of fitness and it is not possible to take it to hundred per cent before the Japan match," said Emily, who scored two goals in two matches against Sri Lanka.
"I am not worried about my fitness. I played in the Asian Games with only five-day preparation and was the best performer of the squad. I always give my hundred per cent whatever my condition is," said winger Zahid.
Meshu, who recovered from his knee injury before starting individual training, believes the players would not be able to be hundred per cent fit for the Japan friendly but all of them would be on pick of fitness during the Bangabandhu Gold Cup.