Sylhet has a long tradition of providing star footballers to the national team and Biplo Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman Sufil and Masuk Miah Jony are the latest inclusions in the list who hail from the greater Sylhet region.
Among them, Biplo separated his name from others after achieving the feat of scoring his debut international goal at his home town in Bangladesh’s first-ever win over Laos in the inaugural match of Bangabandhu Gold Cup at Sylhet District Stadium on Monday.
Sufil had already shone brightly in the Asian Games and Saff Championship in the last two months by getting into the score-sheet in each of the big events while Jony has also been a regular presence behind the striker in both tournaments and is currently enjoying his role in the midfield alongside Jamal Bhuiyan.
Sufil and Jony are relatives to each other. Both hailed from Sreemangal upazila of Maulvibazar district and took their initial football lessons from Sreemangal Football Academy. Jony moved to Chittagong, playing for Chittagong Abahani in the Chittagong league and first played in Bangladesh Premier League for the same club before moving to Mohammedan Sporting Club.
“It’s good to see many players from Sylhet playing for the national team. There were also four players in U16 team. My first coach from Sreemangal Iqramul Haq Rana also played for the national team in the late 1990s. My target is to score in the international match.” said Jony at the hotel lobby Tuesday.
Another member in the current squad, Matin Miah also grew up in Osmaninagar upazila of Sylhet. The young winger, who featured a substitute in the Asiad, is eagerly looking forward to make his senior team debut. Matin, Sufil and Jony all joined Bashundhara Kings for the upcoming season while Biplo may feature for Sheikh Russel KC.
Biplo was given a half-day break from the team hotel on Tuesday to visit his home in the same city. The 20-year-old was greeted by his family members, friends and neighbours once he arrived. He has two sisters and seven brothers. Among the brothers, the elder three live in London, UK while the other three that live here are also footballers. His London brothers had asked him to move to UK and start playing there but he rather chose to stay back and build his career at home.
Three years ago when Bangladesh team toured Sylhet for group round matches of Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2015, there were three players in that squad from Sylhet – Wahed Ahmed, Yeamin Munna and Toklis Ahmed – but none of them managed to keep their place in the national team due to inconsistency.
Biplo said he was inspired by Toklis and Yeamin but when reminded of their downfall, he pledged to continue the hard-work to improve his performance.
“I want to go far. I don’t want to stop here because I have a big dream to stay in football by prolonging my career in both the international and domestic circuit,” said Biplo. He added, “I need to improve a lot like giving the final pass in the attacking third and maintaining my fitness levels.”
Biplo is well aware about the heritage of Sylhet football. There was a group of national stars in the 1990s who also hailed from Sylhet such as Kaiser Hamid, Jewel Rana and Alfaz Ahmed.
Alfaz hailed from Zakiganj upazila of same district and took his first footballing lessons from the local coaches. The former star-striker said that he is proud to see that the current attacking line-up is being led by Sylhet-based footballers.
“When I was playing there were more players from Narayanganj and Khulna in the national team. After Kaiser, Jewel and I retired we saw a long break of national players coming from Sylhet. Many local academies were formed in the last 10-15 years and as a result now we see more players from Sylhet in the national team,” said Alfaz.
Alfaz also added, “I feel so proud of the current young players who are also representing Sylhet. But they have to work harder to maintain their fitness level. They have to be disciplined and improve their performance if they want to stay in the team for longer time.”
