Football Sri Lanka (FSL), the governing body for the sport in the country continues to depend on foreign based players for success in their encounters.
The latest was in the match against Yemen yesterday and the last game against the same opposition on November 19. Analysts attribute the dependence on overseas based players to the absence of a high profile domestic League to meet international standards.
They contend that many players in Sri Lanka are waiting to represent the country in the game but sadly are in cold storage at the moment as major tournaments are not conducted by Football Sri Lanka who say that they do not have enough funds to conduct these tournaments.
Sri Lanka named five new players who reside overseas to replace the three players who will miss out from the 24 member squad.
The five players brought in are Barath Suresh, Claudio Kammerknecht, Dillon de Silva, Jack Hingert and Jason Thayaparan to play against Yemen.
Dillion de Silva who impressed in attack will be a boost for Sri Lanka along with Jack Hingert and Jason Thayaparan.
Should they excel and Sri Lanka win, the team’s ranking stands a chance to improve from their current position of 203 in the world.
Yemen is ranked 154 and they too will be looking forward to improve in their ranking with results against Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka squad:
Sujan Perera, Kaveesh Fernando, Barath Suresh, Harsha Fernando, Adhavan Rajamohan, Mohamed Murshith, Oliver Kelaart, Mohamed Hasmeer, Jason Thayaparan, Mohamed Rifkhan, Leon Perera, Mohamed Aman, Claudio Kammerknecht, Chalana Chameera, Sam Durrant, Mohamed Thilham, Anujan Rajendram, Senal Sandesh, Jack Hingert, Mohamed Aakib, Manaram Perera, Jude Supan, Dillon de Silva, Raghul Suresh. Abdullah Al Mutairi head coach.
