Why the winner of the FA Cup, Hamza, joining Bangladesh, is a major headache for the Indian football team – Firstpost

It is not only the Indian team that will boast of the power of the stars in their ranks when they face Bangladesh in the qualifications of the AFC Asian Cup. With Leicester City star Hamza Choudhury, to make his first appearance for Bangladesh later this month, the Blue Tigers may not be called favorites, even if they have the advantage at home for the match that takes place in Shillong, Meghalaya on March 25. And even if they have the legendary Sunil Chhetri in their ranks.

Choudhury, born from a Grenadian father and a Bangladesian mother and raised in a traditional Muslim house, received a welcome from a hero in Sylhet in the east of the country on Monday.

“It’s incredible. My heart is pumped,” was quoted by Choudhury The daily star By telling journalists at Osmani International Airport where he landed at noon. “Incredible, incredible. For a long time to come. Excited to be here.”

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Why does Choudhury’s arrival give Bangladesh the top against India?

India was reinforced by the return of the emblematic striker Chhetri, who had offered an emotional farewell to international football in June of last year, to recently announce his decision to get out of retirement for the next games. And Chhetri’s return strengthens the attack on a team that has been struggling for some time now, having failed to win a single match in 2024, and is currently 126th in the FIFA ranking.

Choudhury, however, is at a different level compared to all the players who will be in action at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium next Tuesday. The 27 -year -old, who is currently loaned to Sheffield United in Leicester, has spent several years in the Premier League – considered by some as the best football league of the club in the world in terms of competitiveness as well as financial power.

The product of the Leicester City Academy made 131 appearances for the “Foxes” since its senior beginnings in 2017 and was part of the team that won its only FA Cup title in 2021.

As for the Bangladesh’s chances of triumphing over the Indian team in the next competition, Choudhury looked confident.

“Inshallah, we will win. I spoke with coach Javier (Cabrera) of many things. Inshallah, we will win and progress,” he added.

Choudhury had represented England, the country of its birth at the U-21 level, making its debut in 2018 and appearing in the UEFA European U-21 championship the following year.

And although his dream was initially to represent the English senior team, he later decided to change his allegiance to Bangladesh, obtaining a Bangladian passport in August from last year before returning the switch official in December.

Chhetri, meanwhile, will make his first appearance for the Indian team under the coach Manolo Marquez, who had replaced Igor Stimac shortly after the latter was chopped by AIFF in June – the same month when the attacker had retired.

Six days before their Asian Cup qualification match against Bangladesh, India will face the Maldives in a friendly match at the same place.

What happens if India loses Bangladesh later this month

The coming devices will be the third and last qualification cycles for the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup. In total, 24 teams are in action in this Tour and are divided into six groups of four. The team that ends at the top of each group will join the 18 teams that have already qualified for the tournament. Each team will play the remaining teams of their group twice – at home.

India is grouped alongside Hong Kong and Singapore, both listed lower than the Indian team. Hong Kong is seated at 29 places below the Blue Tigers in the FIFA ranking at 155th and Singapore is five additional places at 160th.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, is the group’s least well -classified team in the 185th. But with someone from Choudhury’s stature in their ranks, the “Bengal Tigers” have the edge of other teams.

Given only one team can qualify from a group, each match becomes crucial for India as well as for all the other teams involved. The Marquez team will therefore envisage a winning departure, regardless of the size of the challenge.

There will be a total of six days of match in the third round which will start on March 25 and will end on March 31 of next year. Two of these matches – the third and fourth days of the match – will take place in October (9 and 14) followed shortly after match 5 of the match on November 18.