The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

An 18-member Bangladesh national football team leaves here for Myanmar Saturday midnight by Singapore Airlines to take part in the 3rd Grand Royal Challenge Cup to be held November 11-21 in Yangon with the hope to maintaining consistent performance.

Veteran medio Motiur Rahman Munna will lead the Bangladesh team in the six-nation meet, with defender Mohammad Sujan as his deputy.

Bangladesh, which won their first ever international soccer trophy in Myanmar in 1995, looks for a win in their favorite ground to come out of their win drought in the last 17 international matches.

However, in their two meetings, Bangladesh lost to Myanmar on both occasions - the first by 1-2 goals in the last Grand Royal Challenge Cup final in 2005 and the second by 0-1 goal in the last month's Merdeka Cup Football in Malaysia

In the upcoming tournament in Myanmar, Bangladesh has been placed in group A with strong Indonesia and hosts Myanmar, while group B comprises Vietnam, Malaysia and Hyundai FC (South Korea).

Bangladesh will play hosts Myanmar in the inaugural match of the six-team 3rd Grand Royal Challenge Cup on Nov 11 and their 2nd and last group match against Indonesia on Nov 13.

Two top teams from each of the two groups will play the semi-final on Nov 18 and 19, while the final match is slated for Nov 21.

Talking to the reporters, national football coach Shafiqul Islam Manik expressed his optimism that the team would continue to perform consistently during the Myanmar tour.

He said: "The morale of our players is high compared to the previous occasions… we want to maintain consistency of our performance in the recently concluded Merdeka Cup Football."

The national team coach admitted that their group rivals -- Myanmar and Indonesia -- are comparatively better sides, but said "we will play positive football against them."

Bangladesh squad: Motiur Rahman Munna (captain), Aminul Haq, Biplob Bhattacharya, Rajani Kanta Barman, Mohammad Sujan (vice-captain), Wali Faisal, Ariful Islam, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Enamul Haq Sharif, Kazi Mozammel Hossain Saikat, Mamunul Islam Mamun, Zahid Hasan Emily, Mohammad Robin, Zahid Hossain, Arman Aziz, Alfaz Ahmed, Atiqur Rahman Mishu and Zahed Pervez Chowdhury.

Officials - Badal Roy (manager), Shafiqul Islam Manik (coach), Golam Rabanni Chhoton (assistant coach), Mahfuz Ullah Chisty (team doctor) and Ahmed Syed Al Fatah (media manager).