Desk Report:
The Bangladesh football team will play against Hong Kong in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers on October 9. Hamza Chowdhury has returned to the country to play that match. The Bangladeshi midfielder is hopeful of winning the qualifiers against Hong Kong.
Hamza arrived in Dhaka at around 11:30 am Bangladesh time today after departing from faraway London. He was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers as soon as he stepped foot at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has made a 13-second video about him on its official Facebook page. The BFF captioned the video message, ‘Hamza Chowdhury is feeling great. He is overwhelmed by the love and support of his fans and supporters.’ In the video message, Hamza said, ‘Assalamu Alaikum. Insha Allah we will be successful. We will play against Hong Kong on the 9th. Insha Allah everyone will support us.’
Hamza is going to play his fourth match in the Bangladesh jersey. He made his debut for Bangladesh in a qualifier against India in Shillong on March 25. He has scored 1 goal and assisted 1 goal in 3 matches for Bangladesh so far. He scored a goal in a friendly match against Bhutan at the National Stadium in Dhaka on June 4. Bangladesh won that match 2-0.
Hamza will arrive and practice at the National Stadium in Dhaka this afternoon. However, Shamit will not get enough opportunity to practice before the Hong Kong match. He will come tomorrow night. His club Cavalier FC had a match the day after tomorrow morning. He was supposed to catch a flight from Toronto to Dhaka after playing the match. So this midfielder will get only one session to adapt to the team.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh is ranked third out of four teams in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Hamza has 1 point here. Although India has 1 point, they are in fourth. Singapore and Hong Kong, who are in the top two of the points table, both have 4 points. Bangladesh’s next match in the qualifiers is against Hong Kong on October 9. This match will be held at the National Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh will face Hong Kong again on October 14. This time, Hong Kong will host Bangladesh.
