Bahrain friendlies lined up for U-23s’ AFC prep

Bangladesh U-23 national football team will play two friendly matches against their Bahrain counterparts next month as part of their preparation for September's AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The matches are scheduled for August 18 and 23 in Bahrain.

The decision was made yesterday at the meeting of the BFF national teams committee, chaired by BFF president and committee chairman Tabith Awal. The meeting also decided to send Bangladesh U-23 national team to host nation Vietnam five days before the start of fixtures in Group C -- which also comprises Singapore, Yemen and Bangladesh.

Despite finalising the tour plans, the meeting left two key matters unresolved: the appointment of the U-23 head coach and the start date of the training camp. BFF general secretary Emran Hossain stated that these decisions would be taken at the next committee meeting.

Although senior national team coach Javier Cabrera was initially expected to oversee the U-23 squad, he is likely to be unavailable due to Bangladesh's senior team commitments, including two friendlies against Nepal in Kathmandu in September.

The BFF had approached several top local coaches to take charge of the U-23 team, but all declined for various reasons.

"The decisions regarding these two issues [the appointment of the head coach and the time of training camp] may come soon," informed national teams committee member Amer Khan, also hinting that BFF technical director Saiful Bari Titu is a likely candidate to lead the side, and the camp is expected to start well before the Bahrain friendlies.

The board president had previously stated that the federation intends to form a strong U-23 squad by including up to seven national team regulars and potentially a few foreign-based players, aiming to break Bangladesh's poor run in this competition.

Since the tournament's inception, Bangladesh have failed to progress past the group stage in six consecutive editions, managing only one win (against Sri Lanka) and one draw (against India) in 18 matches since 2012.

This time, 11 group winners and the four best runners-up from the qualifiers will join hosts Saudi Arabia in the 16-team final round, which will be held during January 7-25 next year.