The presence of one person has changed the entire picture of Bangladesh football. Hamza Chowdhury, who was a regular in the English Premier League and who has won the prestigious FA Cup, is now ready to take to the field in the Bangladesh jersey. He joined the team hotel last night. He could make his Bangladesh debut on March 25 in a match against India.
Even though another expatriate footballer Fahmidul Islam was dropped before the match against India, Hamza is almost certain to be there. He has said in the meantime that he wants to play in the midfield. He wants to wear the number 8 jersey of the Bangladesh team. It is understood that he wants to rule the midfield. However, this is where there may be a problem for the Bangladesh team. And there is no room for coach Javier Cabrera to be upset about that ‘sweet problem’.
Hamza has been a defensive midfielder in 115 matches in his career so far. He was a central midfielder in 72 matches. Currently, he is seen in the defensive midfield in a double pivot role at his club Sheffield. He has played 4 matches as a right-back. Javier Cabrera has been finding success in the 4-4-2 diamond formation in the Bangladesh team recently.
Before Hamza came, the team captain Jamal Bhuiyan was in the defensive midfield. The defensive pair of Jamal-Hamza can give Bangladesh something great, but in that case, there will be some weakness in the attack. Jamal, however, played in the central midfield under Cabrera. It is also a matter of seeing who exactly the Spanish coach will keep in the defensive midfield and who will play in the central midfield.
The national team now has two more defensive midfielders—Papan Singha and Mohammad Hridoy. Both have been in good form recently. Papan scored the winning goal in Bangladesh’s last match.
If Bangladesh want to be a little more aggressive in the match against India, they can play both Hamza and Jamal as central midfielders. On the other hand, if they want to stop Sunil Chhetri, who has come out of retirement to join the Indian team, they can play one or both of them as defensive midfielders. In that case, Hridoy and Papon may not be seen in the XI.
When was the last time Bangladesh was in such a ‘sweet pain’ with the midfield? It is also a big question!
