SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh national football team will want to leave behind their off-field distractions as they leave for Maldives today to play the first match of a two-legged World Cup pre-qualifier on Thursday.

The build-up to the crucial matches against their South Asian rivals have been marred by the suspension of five players, who were initially suspended by Bashundhara Kings over disciplinary issues and later excluded from the national team over the same issue.

Three of those five players – goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico, defender Topu Barman, forward Sheikh Morsalin– are regular starters in the national team and played key roles in the team’s run to the semifinals of the SAFF Championship in India in June this year.

Zico had been adjudged the goalkeeper of the tournament while Morsalin was the spark in the attacking line, with his two goals helping the team register 3-1 wins against Maldives and Bhutan.

Cabrera, who decided not to include those players, feels he has players ready to step up in absence of those three.

“This is an unexpected situation, unfortunately. The team was doing very well in June and in September but we have to make sure that the team is not affected by the absence of other players,” Cabrera said at a press conference at the Bashundhara Kings Arena following a lengthy training session yesterday evening.

The coach included defenders Hasan Murad and Shakil Hossain and midfielder Jayed Ahmed for the first time in the senior squad, all of three having taken part in the recent Asian Games campaign. Cabrera believes the good work that his team has done in recent times, including the run to the semifinals of the SAFF Championship and the two draws at home against Afghanistan last month, will not be tempered by the off-field issues.

“It will definitely be a very tough playoff,” Cabrera said. “Both the teams have played each other four times, if I’m not wrong, in the last two-three years. So it’s a very exciting situation and moment for everyone. You can feel it in the dressing room.”

While Bangladesh have played two friendly matches since the SAFF Championship, Maldives have not played a single match since June, reportedly due to financial issues. Whether this will be an advantage for Bangladesh or not can only be gauged after the two matches but skipper Jamal Bhuyan was confident his team can return with a good result.

“These are the two most important matches of this year. We were in a similar situation five years ago when we played against Laos. We will try to get the best result in Maldives and a positive result in Dhaka too,” Jamal said, adding that he believes the performance of Faisal Ahmed Fahim and Mitul Marma in the Asian Games will help them step up for the Maldives matches.

The second match will be held at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on October 17, with the winners on aggregate to advance to the group-stage of the World Cup Qualifiers. The losers, meanwhile, will play another two-legged playoff to qualify for the group-stage of Asian Cup Qualifiers.