A year ago, Anisur Rahman Zico was celebrated as the best goalkeeper at the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru, leading Bangladesh to the semi-finals for the first time in 14 years.
Surprisingly, the once-acclaimed goalkeeper has been omitted from coach Javier Cabrera's preliminary squad this year.
Following the SAFF Championship, Anisur's career faced turbulence.
The Basundhara Kings' goalkeeper encountered disciplinary issues during an AFC Cup match in the Maldives. Zico's exclusion from the squad has left him bewildered. Speaking to the media, he expressed his confusion, "I don't know why the coach didn't select me.
I had the most clean sheets in the second leg of the Bangladesh Premier League. Neither the coach nor the management discussed this with me."
Despite being the best goalkeeper at SAFF and then being dropped from the team within a year, Zico views the situation from a player's perspective, "It's part of a player's life.
There was a disruption after the SAFF incident. But I know how to make a comeback. I want to play well now."
