Leicester City have appointed former Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes as their manager on a three-year contract, the Championship side said on Tuesday.
For more than two decades, Bangladeshi football has remained confined to domestic competition, with no significant international success.
Meanwhile, reigning world champions Argentina have retained their top spot
Tanned by summer heat, tuned by a season of relentless graft at Sheffield United, and tested by rollercoaster ride with Bangladesh, the 26-year-old returned to the club where his footballing identity was forged.
About 10 years ago, in 2015, the Bangladesh national football team suffered a 2-1 defeat to Singapore in a FIFA friendly match. Tuesday’s identical 2-1 defeat to the same opponent in the Asian Cup Qualifiers at the same ground gives the impression that the men in red and green have remained in the same place they were a decade ago -- despite the inclusion of expatriate players like Hamza Choudhury and Shamit Shome.
Bangladesh’s 2-1 defeat to Singapore in the Asian Cup Qualifiers wasn’t just a defeat -- it was a missed opportunity to build something better with the right tools finally in hand. And that’s exactly what former striker and Mohammedan’s league-winning coach Alfaz Ahmed is talking about: we finally have the parts, but we don’t know how to assemble the machine.
Bangladesh midfielder Shamit Shome expressed his disappointment following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Singapore in an AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture at the National Stadium on Tuesday but remained optimistic about the future of Bangladesh football.
Just hours after Bangladesh’s defeat against Singapore in an AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture, coach Javier Cabrera as well as foreign-born players -- Hamza Choudhury and Shamit Shome -- departed Dhaka, confirmed a key member of the team’s management.
“Not the result we wanted! But we can be proud as a team and as a nation!! We need to stay positive because we’re only just getting started and inshaAllah we will be where we want to be very soon!” Hamza wrote in a heartfelt social media post after the match.
Hamza Choudhury was named in the starting XI for Bangladesh in their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against India, with regular captain Jamal Bhuiyan kept on the bench.
Most people these days will not believe me when I tell them that there was once a time when us Bangladeshis had very strong emotions related to football and our footballers. We did not have English hooligans, but each and every locality was somewhat divided between an epic rivalry of Mohammedan versus Abahani.
The match kicks off at 7:30 pm (Bangladesh time) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, Meghalaya, and will be broadcast live on T Sports.
Even though there is a big gulf in ranking as well as performances between Bangladesh and India, the matches involving the two neighbours have over the years produced some thrilling contests.
Hamza’s true impact will not be measured in goals or assists but in his ability to shape the team’s rhythm, structure, and control of the game.
Bangladesh centre-back Tapu Barman said his side would have to be wary about India’s set-piece prowess ahead of the much-anticipated Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture between the sides in Shillong on March 25.
According to Transfermarkt, the total market value of the Bangladesh squad stands at a staggering $8.62 million -- leaving India trailing with a valuation of $6.064 million.
Set to take place on March 25 in Shillong, the clash between the two teams is not just another qualifier; it is a battle between a rejuvenated Bangladeshi side and the man who has haunted them time and again.
When Bangladesh football team captain Jamal Bhuiyan told the press on Thursday, “It feels our [Lionel] Messi is here,” about the arrival of Hamza Choudhury, he wasn’t exaggerating.
As Bangladesh gear up for their crucial Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against India, captain Jamal Bhuiyan likened the excitement surrounding Hamza Choudhury’s homecoming to that of a global superstar.
