BFF names 54-member U-23 squad

The BFF on Tuesday called 54 players for the trial of the Bangladesh U-23 side, ahead of next month's AFC U-23 Championship 2018 Qualifiers as a three-day non-residential training camp is set to begin on Wednesday morning. All the players were called from the clubs who participated in the 2017 Walton Federation Cup and will be playing in the Bangladesh Premier League, set to kick off on Monday. Team BJMC are the only club from the top-flight who didn't have a single representative in the list. There are no players from the second-tier Bangladesh Championship League or any lower division clubs as well. Two Old Dhaka outfits - Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society and Brothers Union - have been producing many young and talented footballers in recent years but they have only five players in the squad - three from Rahmatganj and two from Gopibagh outfit Brothers. There are many players in the 54-man list who played for these two clubs in the previous seasons before moving to richer sides. The preliminary list of 54 players was divided into two groups with Group A containing 26 footballers and Group B comprising 28. The camp will be conducted by newly-appointed head coach of the senior team, England-born Australian tactician Andrew Ord. Chittagong Abahani Limited have the highest number of players – eight - in the list including Masuk Miah Joni, Mohammad Abdullah, Mannaf Rabby, Kaushik Barua and Mansur Amin while top-flight champion Dhaka Abahani Limited have five players including Rubel Miah, Saad Uddin, Sohel Rana and Tutul Hossain Badshah. Seven players each were called from Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Limited and Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra, six each from Arambagh Krira Sangha and Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited, five from new powerhouse Saif Sporting Club, three from Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra and one from Farashganj Sporting Club. Bangladesh will take part in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers from July 19 to July 23 in Palestine. The men in red and green have been placed in Group E alongside Jordan, Tajikistan and host Palestine.