Bangladesh’s Spanish head coach Javier Cabrera said from Hong Kong, China on Sunday that Hamza Choudhury is already regarded as one of the team’s captains and that he is proud to have the midfielder in the squad.
Hamza has played four matches for Bangladesh so far after the UK-born Leicester City midfielder switched his allegiance earlier this year, making crucial contributions in each game.
The 28-year-old, however, is yet to be officially recognized as the national team captain.
Jamal Bhuiyan continued to wear the armband until the last home match against Hong Kong, but he has not started a game under Cabrera since Hamza joined the side and became available for selection.
Cabrera said he already considers Hamza one of the team’s captains.
“I always said, Hamza for us is already one of the captains,” said the Spaniard.
Through a video interview provided by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), Cabrera added,
“Hamza is a leader on and off the pitch — a player who has been guiding his teammates from the beginning, as you could see the other day on the field.”
“We are also very lucky to have captains like Jamal, Topu, and Sohel. All of them are leaders, and we’re fortunate to have Hamza among them as well,” he said.
Bangladesh lost 4-3 at home to Hong Kong last Thursday after a series of defensive blunders, but Cabrera said his game plan was well executed despite the errors.
“Analyzing the video and the match, honestly, the plan was perfectly executed by the players. We made some mistakes that cost us the match, but overall, both the defensive and offensive strategies worked well,” Cabrera explained.
Bangladesh now look to bounce back as they face Hong Kong again in the return leg away on Tuesday.
“We’ll make some small adjustments to get ready again and fight for the win,” said the coach.
The Spanish tactician also discussed the fitness of Canada-based midfielder Shamit Shome, who couldn’t start the previous game but made a vital impact after coming off the bench.
“Shamit is doing much better. He had to arrive barely 24 hours before the first match, but he felt fine and ended up playing around 40-45 minutes,” Cabrera said.
“Hopefully, he’ll be fit for the second match,” he added.
