A strong passion for football does exist in Bangladesh (and also most other South/ South East Asian countries), nearly every teenagers watch EPL, La Liga or Bundes League. And during the world cup, sometimes I highly doubt that even an average Brazilian or Argentinian is as passionate and vocal about their national team as an average Bangladeshi.
The love for football is there in our country, and it's growing. Back when I was residing in Bangladesh, everyone played football on the streets, local parks and ovals. It is no doubt, more people play football than cricket. But the problem is there is a large gap between our amateur level and professional level football.
Sad thing is even with the funding, I doubt that we can come out as a powerhouse in Asia. Look at the Chinese Super League and Indian Super League, they are signing players from Europe and former star players who are close to their retirement to play with their local players. Even that hasn't improved their national team much, especially for India. Even with high funding, our national team will take decades to make a jump to a permanent 100-125 position in world rankings. We have a huge ladder to climb, and I doubt that in our lifetime we will see Bangladesh playing in an Asia cup, let alone a world cup.
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