CURRENT SCENARIO OF BANGLADESH FOOTBALL TEAM

By Md Nur Uddin Howlader Ashiq

“Football is more than just a game.It can bring hope and joy to people’s lives.”,Didier Drogba. It is a game that millions of people around the world play and love.The latest version of football that we knew originates in England. Bangladesh has a traditional history in football,70’s and 80s were the golden era of bangladesh football.Any match involving Mohammedan or Abahanii would draw huge crowd at the Dhaka stadium.This decade also saw some impressive displays by our national squad. Players like Monem Munna, Aslam, Wasim, Tutul,, Shabbir, and Mohsin started rocking and rolling. In the Delhi Asiad of 1982, Bangladesh defeated Malaysia 2-1. The national team ended the decade on a high, by winning the President’s Gold Cup here in Dhaka in the summer of 1989.

CURRENT RANKING

But the time has changed a lot. Football is still the most popular sport in Bangladesh, but on professional level the national team is struggling. Bangladesh national football team is currently ranked 189th among the 208th football playing countries by the latest FIFA ranking published on 20 july, 2023. The current ranking is very poor in compare to the highest one which was 110th in april,1996.

DOWNFALL OF FOOTBALL IN SALAUDDIN ERA

Since being elected the president of Bangladesh Football Federation(BFF) in 2008, Kazi Salauddin failed to keep his legendary image as a president.Contrarily,the name Salauddin has been synonymous to controversies. No other president of any sports body in Bangladesh has to endure so much criticism. Compared to past, the standard of our football has decreased due to mismanagement, lack of support and poor investments. We have lost our traditional football passion.

CURRENT SQUAD AND THEIR POSSIBILITY

Bangladesh football team has a lot of promising players in the present squad. The team put a remarkable effort in recent SAFF championship held in Benguluru ,India. Bangladesh reached the last four of the tournament for the first time since 2009,But unfortunately they lost by 1-0 goal against Kuwait in semi final. Anisur rahman zico won the “Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament” .The 25 years old goalkeeper is considered to be a penalty specialist who plays for Bangladesh Premier League Club Bashundhara kings. 17 years old Sheikh Morsalin scored two goals in the tournament is the born star in our country. He is playing as a attacking midfielder for Bashundhara kings. He can also play as a central midfielder and false nine. We have another midfield maestro our very own captain Jamal Bhuiyan who plays as a mmidfielder for Sheikh Rasel KC. Tapu Barman, Tarik Kazi,Bishwanath Ghosh are the main men of our back side. This trio played very solidly in their last few matches .We also have a superstar Rakib Hossain who plays as a forward or a left wing for Bashundhara Kings. He has the ability to be the best forward ,the country has ever produced. With this balanced team we can expect good results in upcoming FIFA world cup qualifiers matches.The quality Bangladesh Premier League is improving compare to the last 4-5 years. It’s becoming competitive day by day. Many talented young players are discovering which is beneficent for our national football team. But we have to go a long path.There are many lackings in our football team in compare to modern footballs.

OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES

Football is much famous in rural area. Every match played in local stadium or filed is full of crowd everywhere. We can see this through Barrister Sumon facebook account. He wants a revolutionary change in Bangladesh football. He created a academy named “Barrister Sumon Football Academy” with his own funding which has a gymnasium for the players. We need a barrister Sumon in the every district of our country. But BFF has to play the most vital role in this regard.From playing fields to training institutions everything should be updated. Hiring more qualified coaching staffs from europe and america will surely improve the individual skills and game sense of the players. There are multiple aspects to consider when improving the physiological aspects to football performance such as speed,agility,strength,stamina,power. So, personal gymnasium should be obligated for all the premier league clubs. There are numerous talented footballers here and there in the country.So, lower league football tournament should be regular and businessman should sponsored the team.