Eyes on Indonesia match and SAFF for Hamza

Bangladesh suddenly got an opportunity in the ASEAN Cup. Having lost to higher-ranked Malaysia and Singapore, Thomas Dooley's team has also understood the reality. On Thursday, Bangladesh's opponent in the group's last match is hosts Indonesia.

Bangladesh's 'poster boy' Hamza Chowdhury is truly eager to play against a strong team like Indonesia in front of the home crowd. In an interview with 'FIFA', Hamza said, "I am looking forward to this match. I know there will be a lot of spectators there, which will be another great experience for us as a team. Indonesia is quite a strong team. Many of their players play in top European leagues. So it is another tough test for us. But we mainly came here for this reason—so that we can fight against teams ranked higher than us."

Hamza Chowdhury has been playing in Bangladesh's jersey for nearly a year and a half. Speaking about his experience during this time, he said, "Personally, it has been an amazing experience for me. Alhamdulillah. Of course, there were good and bad moments during this time. Unfortunately, difficult moments have perhaps come more than good ones, but we are continuing to work and moving toward something better."

According to Hamza Chowdhury, Bangladesh is relatively inexperienced when it comes to competing in tournaments like the ASEAN Cup. Referring to the Malaysia match, he said, "Malaysia is a very good team, and I think our start in that match was very slow, which made it difficult to come back against a team like them."

Malaysia is far ahead of Bangladesh in the FIFA ranking. However, Hamza Chowdhury believes that the gap was not always clearly visible in the actual game on the field. "It is a great thing for us to be able to compete at this level. They are ahead of us in the ranking, but if you look at certain moments on the field, you will not feel that difference. So we are certainly moving in the right direction."

The Sheffield United player further added, "I think we are just trying to fill the two or three main gaps in the team, and hopefully we will be able to sort everything out properly soon."

Bangladesh is going to host the SAFF tournament next November. Hamza has his eyes on the title in this tournament. "We have a big tournament at home in November. Insha'Allah, we are building ourselves with that in mind, and hopefully we can achieve some success there."

Sharing his experience of visiting Indonesia for the first time, Hamza said, "I really enjoyed it! This is my first trip to Indonesia. Many of my friends and some family members had been here before, and they all praised the country. So I am very happy to be able to come here. The people here are very friendly. The weather is a bit hot for me, but overall I have enjoyed it quite a bit. I hope to come back later and visit other parts of Indonesia as well."