SAFF Championship 2013: Team Profile – Bangladesh

Sportskeeda continues the buildup to next month’s SAFF Championship by profiling each of the eight participating nations. Here we have a look at one of India’s Group A opponents and 2003 winners Bangladesh.

FIFA Ranking: 158

AFC Ranking: 30

History

Bangladesh’s first-ever international match dates back to 1973, two years after their independence, and although that game ended in a 2-2 draw with Thailand in Malaysia, the ‘Bengal Tigers’ have always been among the minnows of Asia. They are, however, the only South Asian nation besides India who have appeared in the Asian Cup. That was achieved in the 1980 edition, for which they qualified by finishing second among three teams, with all qualifying matches being played in Dhaka.

In the main tournament, Bangladesh lost all four of their matches, conceding 17 goals, but considering the fact they haven’t ever come close to qualifying since, that appearance in the 1980 Asian Cup remains one of their best moments in international football. All other memorable achievements on the international arena have come at South Asian level, either at the South Asian Games or the SAFF Championship.

Bangladesh have also only appeared in two editions of the AFC Challenge Cup with the quarter-final appearance in the inaugural edition in 2006, which they hosted, being their best showing. The country’s national league started in 2007 but like almost every other nation of the sub-continent their domestic game lacks professionalism and infrastructure with their clubs also yet to appear in the AFC Cup.

SAFF Championship Best Performance: Winners (2003)

SAFF Championship History

Bangladesh didn’t participate in the inaugural tournament in 1993 but have appeared in every edition since 1995, and been one of the most consistent teams after India. They have only failed to get past the group stage on three out of eight occasions, and reached the final in three straight editions between 1999 and 2005. They lost the final in 1999 and 2005 to India but won the 2003 edition on home soil, and became only the third nation to lift the SAFF Championship crown.

In the 2003 edition, after a 100 percent record in the group stage, Bangladesh ended India’s hopes of winning a hattrick of titles by beating them 2-1 after extra time in the semis. The hosts defeated Maldives on penalties in the final in front of nearly 50,000 supporters at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh failed to repeat the 2003 heroics in 2009, when they hosted the tournament again, as they were beaten by India in the semi-finals. The last edition, in 2011, turned out to be one of their worst as they managed just one point from three games and finished rock-bottom in their group.

Current Team

Like India, Bangladesh too have gone Dutch as their head coach Lodewijk de Kruif is also from the Netherlands. Kruif took charge in January 2013 and there has already been a revival during his tenure as Bangladesh’s FIFA Ranking at the start of this calendar year was 168 but it has now improved by ten spots. The main reason behind it was the impressive showing at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in March. In that tournament, Bangladesh only narrowly lost to higher-ranked Palestine and defeated hosts Nepal, before thrashing Northern Mariana Islands in their final qualifier to finish second in the group.

As per original rules, Bangladesh were well placed to qualify as one of the best second-placed teams but the withdrawal of Cambodia in one of the qualifying groups saw results against bottom-ranked teams of each group become null, and Kruif’s side missed out on a chance of qualifying for the 2015 Asian Cup. But the Dutchman and his players will be encouraged by that performance in the Challenge Cup qualifiers, and will be looking to build on it with a good showing at the SAFF Championship.

Bangladesh had a training camp in Thailand and although they were denied the chance of facing the Thai national team, the 2003 SAFF winners played a couple of friendly matches. They lost to Thai club Osotspa Saraburi 2-1 but defeated the Thailand U-19s 1-0. Kruif has retained most of the players who impressed during the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, and also called up five foreign-based players, but only Denmark-based midfielder Jamal Bhuyan made it to the final stages of the preparatory camp.

Squad at the camp in Thailand:

Goalkeeper: Biplob Bhattacharjee, Mamun Khan, Shahidul Alam SohelDefenders: Ariful Islam, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Rezaul Karim Reza, Wali Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Raihan HasanMidfielders: Mamunul Islam, Jamal Bhuyan, Omar Faruque Babu, Mithun Chowdhury, Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Zahid Hossain, Sohel Rana, Monaem Khan RajuForwards: Zahid Hasan Ameli, Shakhawat Hossain Rony, Toklis Ahmed, Wahed Ahmed.

Key Players

Ariful Islam

Despite being only 25, the central defender is one of the most experienced players in the current national team, having made his international debut seven years ago. Ariful, who plays for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the Bangladesh domestic league, is expected to play an important role for Kruif’s team.

Mamunul Islam

Bangladesh are currently sweating on the injury of their inspirational captain, but are still hopeful that the 24-year-old central midfielder will be fit for the tournament. Mamunul won the 2012-13 Bangladeshi domestic league with Sheikh Russell, and will be eager to lead his nation to glory in next month’s SAFF Championship.

Shakhawat Hossain Rony

The striker is bit of a late starter, as he only made his international debut at the age of 27 and it was handed to him by Kruif at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. Rony repaid his faith with three goals in as many games, including a match winning brace against Nepal, and would aim for a similar strike rate at SAFF 2013 also.

SAFF 2013 Group: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan

SAFF 2013 Fixtures

August 31: Nepal; September 3: India; September 5: Pakistan

SAFF 2013 Expectations

Bangladesh are not among the favourites for the tournament but they are the fourth-highest ranked team in South Asia and second-highest of their group. India are clearly the strongest team on paper, but Bangladesh will also be wary of Nepal’s home advantage and thus their first game, which will also be the tournament opener, against the hosts could make or break their SAFF 2013 campaign.

A win in the opener will give Bangladesh a great chance of reaching the semi-finals, but they will have to play well above themselves to win the tournament. Considering their good showing in the Challenge Cup qualifiers earlier this year, anything less than a place in the semi-finals will be a big disappointment.