Cuba joins squad, Hamza coming on Monday

Bashundhara Kings' young midfielder Cuba Mitchell has earned his maiden call-up to the Bangladesh national football team, after head coach Javier Cabrera added him to the squad at the last moment for the upcoming home matches against Nepal and India.

Hamza Choudhury, meanwhile, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Monday afternoon, while Shamit Shome is expected the following night.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) confirmed Cuba's inclusion through a Facebook post on Sunday. Alongside him, Fortis FC winger Murshed Ali has also been drafted into the squad.

The national team's preparation camp began on 30 October, with an initial 27-man preliminary squad announced last Wednesday. Cuba and Murshed were later called up after Mohammad Ibrahim and Rahmat Mia were ruled out following injuries sustained during a practice match against Fortis FC.

Explaining his decision to call up the two youngsters, Cabrera told the media: "We are well aware of Cuba's talent. He hasn't been called up earlier mainly because he didn't get much playing time for Bashundhara. As you know, both Ibrahim and Rahmat were injured during the last practice match, we decided this was the right time to bring in some promising players we've been monitoring for a while."

Cabrera, however, said he would not rush the former Sunderland FC youth team player's development: "We need to progress gradually, just as we did with Fahamedul (Islam) and Zayan (Ahmed). Cuba doesn't have much time to prepare -- only four training sessions before the Nepal match and a total of seven before the India game. Still, we're confident he'll improve while working with us. Everyone wants him to perform well, and hopefully, he'll get the opportunity to play."

Bangladesh will face Nepal in a warm-up match on November 13, before taking on India in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on November 18 at the National Stadium in Dhaka.

Regarding the arrival of the two overseas-based midfielders, team manager Amer Khan said: "Hamza will arrive at 12:00 pm tomorrow (Monday), and Shamit will arrive the following night at around midnight, which means he'll reach Dhaka on 12 November."