Following Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury's debut for Bangladesh against India last month, interest among expatriate footballers in representing the national team has seen a notable rise. Canada-based midfielder Shamit Shome has already expressed his desire to play for Bangladesh.

While Denmark-based Jamal Bhuiyan blazed the trail over a decade ago, Hamza's recent appearance for the senior national team seems to have reignited enthusiasm among foreign-born players, including those at the youth level.

Head coach Golam Rabbani Choton has named three foreign-based players -- Abdul Kadir (Italy), Elman Matin (UK), and Farzad Aftab (USA) -- in the 35-member preliminary squad of the Bangladesh U-19 football team, who are set to start their preparations at Shams Ul Huda Football Academy in Jashore today for next month's SAFF U-19 Championship.

These players were not selected solely based on their overseas background. Instead, they underwent rigorous training alongside the BFF Elite Academy players, who recently completed the first phase of the Bangladesh Championship League.

The exclusion of UAE-based goalkeeper Uzeayear Chowdhury from the preliminary squad underscores that expatriate status alone does not secure a spot on the team.

Under coach Choton's guidance, most players -- except two, each from BKSP and Bashundhara Kings -- arrived at the academy in Jashore last night to begin nearly two weeks of training. The team will then return to Dhaka for final preparations at the BKSP artificial turf before departing for India on May 6.

Among the expatriates, Abdul Kadir has participated in various youth tournaments in Italy and currently plays for Serie D club Fermana. He prefers to play as a right winger or midfielder and claims to have recorded eight goals and two assists.

Both Matin and Aftab have also competed in different youth-level tournaments in the UK and the USA.

"They joined the Elite Academy players for the Bangladesh Championship League training in the first week of this month. They looked good in training," coach Choton told The Daily Star after a session at the Dhanmondi Club ground on Tuesday.

"I'll be able to assess them more thoroughly when they train alongside players from the Bangladesh Premier League and Bangladesh Championship League during the residential camp," Choton added. He plans to finalise a 23-member squad after training at BKSP's artificial turf.

Bangladesh, the defending champions of the 2024 SAFF U-20 Championship, have been drawn in Group A alongside Maldives and Bhutan. Group B comprises hosts India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals of the tournament, scheduled to be held in India from May 9 to 18.