Youth Wave

Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh will host India in the inaugural match of the 2011 World Cup, the International Cricket Council announced.
The Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka will host six matches and the opening ceremony, while two games will be played in the port city of Chittagong.
India – set to stage 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues including a quarter-final, a semi-final and the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai – will travel across the border to Dhaka for their first match on February 19.Sri Lanka, the other co-hosts, will stage 12 matches – including a quarter-final and a semi-final – while Bangladesh will host the opening ceremony on February 17 and the remainder of the matches, including two quarter-finals.
The duration of the 2011 tournament will be a week shorter than the 2007 edition in the Caribbean.
Sri Lanka will unveil two new venues during the course of the tournament – Hambantota and Pallekele – and will take on Canada in their first match at Hambantota on February 20.

Bangladesh plays Bhutan in the SAFF Championship opener
Hosts Bangladesh will begin their SAFF Championship campaign taking on Bhutan in one of two opening day matches on December 4 as the South Asian Football Federation yesterday revealed the fixtures of the sixth edition of the regional football meet.
All 15 matches including the semifinals and final will be played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium with two matches of the group stage to be played each day from December 4 to 9.
Both semifinals are scheduled for December 11 while the final will take place on December 13.
Bangladesh had earlier been drawn in Group B along with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bhutan while Group A included holders Maldives, runners-up India, Afghanistan and Nepal. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals.
Bangladesh, who was eliminated from the group stage in the fifth edition in Colombo in 2008 after a 1-1 draw against Bhutan, a 2-2 draw against Afghanistan before going 1-0 down to Sri Lanka, will play the second match against Pakistan on December 6.
The hosts’ third and group final match against Sri Lanka will be held on December 8.

Fixtures:

Dec 4: Sri Lanka v Pakistan; Bangladesh v Bhutan
Dec 5: Maldives v Nepal; India v Afghanistan
Dec 6: Sri Lanka v Bhutan; Bangladesh v Pakistan
Dec 7: Maldives v Afghanistan; India v Nepal
Dec 8: Pakistan v Bhutan; Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Dec 9: Afghanistan v Nepal; Maldives v India
Dec 11: Semifinals
Dec 13: Final

BFF All of a Sudden Sack Brazilian coach Dido
Bangladesh Football Federation sacked Brazilian national coach Dido for his whimsical attitude in picking the players for the SAFF Championship. Kazi Salahuddin, the president of Bangladesh Football Federation remained firm on his decision of sacking Brazilian coach Dido but insisted better he could have avoided it.
“We think the squad that Dido picked earlier was not experienced enough because some vital players were ignored. We also believed that his bust up with eight players in the national team camp at the BKSP in July played a part in his selection,” said national team management committee chairman Badal Roy.
“Considering these things the BFF executive committee has decided to sack an unmoved Dido and announce a fresh team in the best interest of the country,” said Roy, a former national player.
Roy also read out a statement explaining the reason behind the termination of the Brazilian.
“No doubt Edson Silva Dido is a good coach, but he was sacked because of his arrogance that at times bordered beyond his jurisdiction. Besides, we also felt that he misused his extreme power in the selection,” said Roy whose committee has time and again openly criticised Dido’s supreme authority over the selection of the national team.
“We tried to convince him to form a strong squad with best available players, but he did not,” said Roy, adding that it was secondary whether Bangladesh would lift the SAFF Championship when it takes place in Dhaka from December 4-13.
Responding to a question, the former national midfielder said that they did not interfere with Dido’s activities since he took over in January.
“But after he finalised the 23-member squad for the SAFF Championship we tried to convince him to reconsider his decision. But unfortunately he defied everything,” said Roy.
Salahuddin found nothing unusual in sacking a coach. ‘It happens throughout the football world and of course in the game named football, coaches come and coaches go but the game goes on its way’ said Salahuddin.
However Salahuddin was critical about the selection procedure of the overseas coaches of Bangladesh. ‘I have found the process is totally imperfect, throughout the years we have selected the coaches depending upon the CV and other references, it has to be avoided, the ideal procedure to see your coach on your own and select him, however we have to admit that we have financial constraints’ said Salahuddin.
Salahuddin also pointed out that a national team coach must possess some extra qualities from the club level coaches. ‘Every country has its own stars and they expect a certain level of respect from the coach,  they need a special handling procedure, managing a player like Beckenbauer in Germany and managing a Bangladeshi star like Chunnu is almost same, a coach should have to understand it’ explained Salahuddin.