Desk Report:
Leicester City is having a mixed time in the English Football League Championship. Sometimes winning, sometimes drawing. The day after yesterday, they defeated Swansea City 3-1. Hamza Chowdhury spent the entire match sitting on the bench. In that case, Bangladesh benefited. If he had played, there would have been a slight risk of injury.
Hamza is coming to Dhaka tomorrow to play two matches in the Asian Cup qualifiers against Hong Kong. His flight from London is scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at 11 am. After resting for some time at the hotel, he will start training at the National Stadium in the afternoon.
The national team camp, however, has started on September 29. Coach Javier Cabrera told the media today about Hamza’s arrival, “Hamza is coming tomorrow morning, if everything goes well, he will do three training sessions with us.”
The 2-1 loss against Singapore at home in June has put Bangladesh in a bit of a bind. To stay in the fight, there is no alternative to winning against Hong Kong. Cabrera is also aiming for a win. How can that happen at the center of that table! The 28-year-old midfielder will have to take on additional responsibility this time too. Cabrera reminded, ‘He played higher for some time against Singapore. We want his contribution in attack as well as maintaining balance in defense. So that he can come up from the second line and create opportunities. He is playing comfortably in a mixed role against Singapore.’
The Bangladesh coach is a little worried about Shamit Shome. The match against Hong Kong is on October 9. And Shamit will arrive the day after tomorrow night. His club Cavalier FC had a match tomorrow morning. He will fly from Toronto to Dhaka after playing the match. So this midfielder is getting only one session to adapt to the team. Regarding playing him in the starting eleven, Cabrera said, ‘It is a little difficult for Shamit. He will come the day after tomorrow night, he will only be able to practice the day before the match. So a decision will be taken after understanding his condition.’
Hong Kong (146) is the highest ranked of the four teams in Group ‘C’. They drew against Singapore in the first match but lost to India 1-0 in the second match. Although they sweated a lot while winning. Although they are physically strong, Kabrera is not bowing his head just yet, ‘We are fully optimistic that we can take three points. Hong Kong is a very strong team, a physically tough opponent. Of course, we will suffer against them. But we have to go into the field with the right mentality. If we are united, if we can perform like before, we can achieve our goal.’
