England-based footballer Hamza Choudhury has joined the national team’s practice upon arriving in Dhaka. Another expatriate footballer, Farhan Ali Wahid, was also scheduled to join practice at the same time but arrived late in Dhaka due to flight complications. As a result, Bangladesh is getting the opportunity to practice with a full squad before the crucial match against Sri Lanka.
Hosts Bangladesh played their first match in the SAFF Championship against Bhutan without midfielder Hamza and winger Farhan. The Red-Green team started the tournament with a victory, courtesy of Mohammad Ibrahim’s lone goal. Later, with the match between Sri Lanka and Bhutan ending in a 2-2 draw, Bangladesh secured their spot in the semifinals with a game in hand.
Bangladesh will play their final group stage match against Sri Lanka tomorrow, Wednesday. If they win this match, the hosts will advance to the semifinals as group winners. With this goal in mind, coach Thomas Dooley’s team is expected to practice with a full squad today.
Both Hamza and Farhan had departed from England for Dhaka at the same time. Hamza arrived in Dhaka in the morning and joined the team’s practice. However, Farhan got stuck due to connecting flight complications on his way from England to Dhaka via Qatar. He arrived in Dhaka later than scheduled. This young forward will now have the opportunity to recover from the long journey and adapt to the team.
In Group ‘A’, Bangladesh leads with three points from one match. Bhutan is in the next position with one point from two matches. Sri Lanka also has one point, but from one match. The remaining group dynamics will depend on the result of the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match.
Meanwhile, the battle in Group ‘B’ between India and Pakistan has intensified. Pakistan started the tournament with a loss to India in their first match. However, they secured their semifinal spot by defeating Maldives 3-0 in the next match. The result of the match between India and Maldives will determine which country will proceed to the semifinals as the second team from the group.
Beyond the field, spectator attendance has also been a topic of discussion in this year’s SAFF Championship. From the beginning, low attendance has been observed in the tournament matches. Even in Bangladesh’s match against Bhutan, the crowd was estimated to be around 10,000. For other matches, the galleries were almost empty. It remains to be seen whether the arrival of Hamza and Farhan will boost spectator interest.
