Leicester City midfielder Hamza Chowdhury made his debut in the Bangladesh jersey in a match against India in March this year. He has since played two more matches. However, it is unlikely that Hamza will play in the two friendly matches to be held in Nepal in September. That was the regret expressed by national team defender Tapu Barman.
Before training at the National Stadium today, Tapu told reporters, ‘It will be difficult to play without Hamza. But we will try to adapt. We will have to give more than we can.’ However, national team coach Javier Cabrera said, ‘This team is ready for the Nepal tour. If Hamza cannot come to the end, there will be no problem.’
Bangladesh lost 3-1 in a friendly match in Nepal in 2022. Tapu wants to forget that bitter experience, ‘Both matches are important for us. If we can get good results, then our confidence will increase before the Hong Kong match. We don’t want to return empty-handed from Nepal.’
‘It will be difficult to play without Hamza’ — said Tapu, coach said — ‘There will be no problem’
The two matches with Nepal will be held on September 6 and 9 at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Nepal is ranked 176th in the FIFA rankings, while Bangladesh is ranked 184th. Both teams will play the friendly matches with the Asian Cup qualifiers in mind.
Bangladesh is preparing seriously even though it is a friendly match. Coach Javier Cabrera started the camp on August 13. However, he has not had the entire squad together for a long time. The 10 footballers of Bashundhara Kings practiced together for the first time today at the National Stadium after moving to the team hotel yesterday.
‘It will be difficult to play without Hamza’ — said Tapu, coach said — ‘There will be no problem’
After the game in Nepal, Bangladesh will face Hong Kong in a home and away match in October. The two matches of the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers will be held in Dhaka on October 9 and in Hong Kong on October 14.
So far, Bangladesh has played two matches in the qualifiers with 1 point. They are in third place. Hong Kong is in second place with 4 points from the same match. Singapore is at the top with 4 points. India is at the bottom of the list with 1 point, the same as Bangladesh.
Get real time update about this post category directly on your device, subscribe now.
