After Bangladesh's premature exit from the ongoing AFC Challenge Cup following a 6-1 crashing to eventual finalists Tajikistan, there were rumours that the coach would be homebound.

But the National Team Manage-ment Committee is eager to give the Argentine coach a chance to fulfil his one-year contract, which ends in mid-August. With the eight-nation SA Games to be held in September, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) will have to renew the contract with Cruciani -- which looks uncertain at this stage -- to have him as coach during the competition.

The national team will go into action on August 16 when they host Qatar in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers in Dhaka. Cruciani, however, has been banned by the AFC for Bangladesh's remaining four qualifying round games.

It was learnt that the BFF is going to cut the coach's authority after his 'failure' despite enjoying absolute freedom in team selection.