[Mohiul]

Dhaka, April 29 (bdnews24.com)— Bangladesh coach Abu Yousuf has taken the next month's AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers as a preparatory tournament for the national team ahead of the South Asian Football Federation Championship in June. "Our aim is to prepare ourselves through the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers before taking part in the SAFF Championship, but we want to qualify for the finals of the Challenge Cup," Yousuf told reporters during an 18-member squad announcement Tuesday. Nokia, the national team's clothing sponsor, organised the conference at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan. "If we can finish top in the qualifiers, it will certainly inspire the boys in the SAFF Championship," said the former national defender. It was probably the first time that the coach announced the national football team without the presence of a single official of the federation. Yousuf said he had independently chosen the squad, but the name of the captain would be declared by the newly elected BFF committee. He however hinted that either Hasan Al Mamun or Aminul Haq would wear the arm-band of the captaincy. Yousuf said he had picked up those players, capable of playing throughout the game in line with his strategy—to go for attack, and come down to defend the opponent's attack all together. The former footballer said he had first emphasised the need of the players' fitness for the first three weeks and all but satisfied the way the players toiled hard to regain their fitness. He added he has been working on the game for the last week. Yousuf has rated hosts Kyrgyzstan as a supreme side, but believes Bangladesh are better than two other opponents Laos and Afghanistan. The national team will leave Dhaka for Kyrgyzstan on May 2 before starting their campaign on May 5 against Laos. Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan on May 7 before facing the hosts on May 9. "The national team had also earlier suffered for lack of warm-up matches. The problem is still there, but we have to move on," Yousuf said. "We should have played at least five warm-up matches in different conditions before going to Kyrgyzstan." Selected squad: Aminul Haq, Biplob Bhattacharya, Hasan Al Mamun, Ariful Islam, Wali Faisal, Rajani Kanta Barman, Atiqur Rahman Mishu, Mofazzel Hossain Saikat, Arup Kumar Baidya, Arman Aziz, Enamul Haq Sharif, Jahed Parvez, Faisal Mahmud, Maruf Ahmed, Mamunul Islam Mamun, Mehdi Hasan Ujjal, Mohammad Robin, Jahid Hasan Emily. bdnews24.com/ar/ad/2232 hrs