Fahamedul first to arrive for booters' camp

Italy-based Fahamedul Islam arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday morning ahead of joining the national team for the upcoming friendly match against Bhutan and the Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against Singapore.

The 18-year-old landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 9:00am this morning, flying in from Rome, to a rousing reception by the Bangladeshi Football Ultras group.

The fans changed, "Welcome back, Fahamedul", as the Olbia Calcio winger made his way to the car waiting outside the airport, avoiding queries from the media.

Fahamedul's arrival is expected to follow those of two other high-profile expats – Hamza Choudhury and Shamit Shome. Hamza is expected to arrive on June 2 and Shamit is expected to come to Dhaka on June 4, the day Bangladesh take on Bhutan.

Fahamedul Islam [2nd from left]. Photo: Instagram

Fahamedul had earlier joined the national team's camp in Saudi Arabia in March ahead of Bangladesh's first match against India at the coach's behest, but was later withdrawn and sent back to Italy by the coach himself.

That incident created quite a bit of uproar from fans. It remains to be seen whether the talented young winger makes it to the team list for either of the two matches.

Bangladesh team is expected to be announced today and the team will start training camp on Friday.