Sweden-born Bangladeshi expatriate footballer Joseph Noor Rahman joined the national team’s training camp yesterday for a trial.
The 28-year old attacking midfielder trained under the guidance of Bangladesh’s Italian head coach Fabio Lopez at the BFF artificial turf as the national side’s camp got underway with the presence of 19 footballers.
The national booters who joined the camp were mostly from Sheikh Jamal, Abahani and Mohammedan while the Sheikh Russel players will join them following the conclusion of the ongoing Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup.
Sheikh Jamal defender Yeasin Khan could not join the camp due to injury.
Joseph was the major attraction of yesterday’s training session. After his first trial, Joseph Noor said, “I came here from a long distance and I wouldn’t try and come here if I wasn’t confident that I can take a place in the national team. There are other players in Sweden who are good and they also want to come.”
Joseph Noor informed that he plays for a lower-division club in Sweden that never made it into the top-flight. He also mentioned that while he is comfortable playing in attacking midfield, he can also play in the wings and striking position.
“Before coming here, I studied the Bangladesh team a little bit as to how they play and what I’ve seen so far, they have two good players - Jamal Bhuiyan and Mamunul Islam. I think maybe I can do something to contribute and that’s why I’m here,” he added.
Jamal is the only expatriate footballer to have featured for Bangladesh since 2013. Joseph Noor said he will try his best to convince the head coach with his performances and become only the second expatriate to don the red and green jersey after Jamal.