'The country would explode if we qualify for a World Cup': Sullivan twins dream big for Bangladesh

Bangladesh Under-20 football team's Bangladeshi-origin footballers from the US Ronan and Declan Sullivan believe the country's growing pool of overseas-born talent can give the country a realistic chance of reaching the World Cup one day.

“I think the country would explode if we qualify for a World Cup,” Ronan said in a report published in The Guardian on Tuesday.

“Whenever I think about the 64-team [World Cup], I’m thinking, ‘Look, if we get all these players, we have a chance to qualify.’ Like, that’s the dream. That’s the ultimate goal,” said his brother Declan.

The Philadelphia-born twins, and brothers of Major League Soccer (MLS) stars Cavan and Quinn Sullivan, helped Bangladesh win the SAFF U-20 Championship in April, with Ronan scoring the decisive fifth penalty against India with a Panenka in the final in Malé.

The twins believe that their success has since helped spark interest among other players with Bangladeshi roots living abroad.

“I think a lot of people saw what we did over there and saw how good of an experience that was, and now all of a sudden I’m seeing a lot of foreign players interested in playing for Bangladesh,” Declan said.

The brothers were overwhelmed by the reception after returning to Dhaka with the trophy.

“That was a lot. Got a lot of flowers, met a lot of people. I feel like our team was the hot new thing in Bangladesh,” Declan said.

“We met a bunch of people, and everyone was so happy and so grateful that we brought the trophy back to the country,” he added.

The twins had never visited Bangladesh before their tryout for the U20 squad. Declan said that their route to Bangladesh football began with an Instagram message from a “Save Bangladesh Football” account.

“It all started with an Instagram DM, which is kind of crazy,” Declan said.

For Ronan, the opportunity was about more than football.

“[We had] a bit of time before college. It would be awesome to go play, represent the country, become more part of the culture,” he said.

They also spoke about the early difficulty in integrating with the side and how they overcame the language barrier.

“When you’re foreign, it’s harder to get the ball at first because you don’t speak the language and maybe the guys weren’t super thrilled that we’re there,” Ronan said. “But once you get the ball a couple times and show what you can do, it helps out.”

In the final against India, Ronan scored the decisive penalty in the shootout with a Panenka kick.

“I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me it [would have] went like that,” Ronan said.

Declan, however, was not surprised by his brother’s audacious choice.

“He didn’t even need to say it. I knew he was gonna do that the whole time,” Declan said. “I knew that if he got the last pen to win it, he was gonna do that. That’s just the him thing to do.”