Ronan and Mahe earn maiden call ups as Bangladesh name preliminary SAFF squad

Bangladesh coach Thomas Dooley has named a 28 member preliminary squad for the SAFF Championship, with teenage strikers Ronan Sullivan and Mohammed Mahe Khan receiving their first senior call ups. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced the list on Saturday, October 24.

The 15th edition of South Asia’s premier tournament will be staged at the National Stadium in Dhaka, with the final on November 17. Bangladesh are in Group A with Bhutan and Sri Lanka, while India, Pakistan and Maldives form Group B.

The top two from each group reach the semi finals. Bangladesh have won the SAFF Championship only once, in 2003. The hosts will hope new faces and returning defenders can help end a wait of more than two decades on home soil.

Ronan, 18, impressed at the SAFF U20 Championship in Male in April, scoring twice against Pakistan and converting a Panenka penalty in the 4-3 shootout win over India in the final. He now plays for Saint Josephs Hawks in US collegiate football.

Mahe, also 18, plays for Moulton FC in the ninth tier of English football and has scored nine goals in seven matches this season. That form caught the eye of Dooley, who is American, and earned him a place among the squad’s expatriate players.

Experienced defenders Topu Barman and Bishwanath Ghosh return after recovering from injuries that kept them out of Bangladesh’s disastrous FIFA ASEAN Cup campaign in Indonesia in September and October. Foysal Ahmed Fahim, Isa Faysal, Quazem Shah and Mohammad Ibrahim are also included.

Expatriate players Hamza Dewan Choudhury, Shamit Shome, Jamal Bhuyan, Farhaan Ali Wahid and Suki Itofusa are in the group, alongside Md Minhazul Karim Shadin. Md Saad Uddin and Sohel Rana Junior, who drew controversy at the ASEAN Cup in Jakarta, are also included.

Shakil Ahad Topu, Manjurur Rahman Manik and Shahriar Emon, who were in the final 23 member ASEAN Cup squad, miss out. Goalkeepers Mohammad Asif and Ishaq Akanda have been called into camp for training only and are not part of the 28.

Bangladesh preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers: Mitul Marma, Md Sujon Hossain, Md Mehdi Hasan Srabon

Defenders: Topu Barman, Bishwanath Ghosh, Md Saad Uddin, Zidane Alexander Yousuf, Md Rahmat Mia, Md Isa Faysal, Tariq Raihan Kazi, Zayyan Ahmed

Midfielders: Md Sohel Rana, Sohel Rana, Md Ridoy, Hamza Dewan Choudhury, Shamit Shome, Syed Quazem Kirmanee Shah, Jamal Bhuyan, Shekh Morsalin

Forwards: Farhaan Ali Wahid, Rakib Hossain, Md Foysal Ahmed Fahim, Fahamedul Islam, Mohammad Ibrahim, Md Minhazul Karim Shadin, Ronan Benjamin Sullivan, Mohammed Mahe Khan, Suki Itofusa