Hamza in preliminary Bangladesh squad for Nepal friendlies
Although it is still uncertain whether Hamza will be available then, the BFF is trying to field him.
Usually, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announces the squad before the start of the camp. This time, however, it has not. But national team manager Amer Khan told reporters today that Hamza Choudhury is in the 24-man preliminary squad for the September match against Nepal.
Although it is still uncertain whether Hamza will be available then, the BFF is trying to field him. Amer said, "Hamza is in the coach's 24-man preliminary list. A letter has already been sent to his club Leicester City. Discussions with his club are ongoing to get him to play in the September window."
Bangladesh will play two matches against Nepal on 6 and 9 September at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. In the FIFA rankings, Nepal are in 176th place while Bangladesh are 184th. Both teams will play the matches as preparation for the Asian Cup qualifiers.
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The training camp for these matches started today, with only five footballers joining on the first day. National team captain Jamal Bhuyan was also absent. The five Abahani players taking part in the AFC Challenge League will join on 14 August, while 10 Bashundhara Kings players will join on 15 August.
Regarding this, the national team manager said, "Jamal asked the federation for one more day. Apart from Abahani and Kings, the other clubs have not started training properly. The coach called the camp so that the footballers could work on gym sessions and fitness."
According to the rules, clubs are bound to release players for national duty 72 hours before matches in the FIFA window. Despite this rule, Bangladesh will not have Shamit Som in the September window. Amer said that Shamit has club matches in September, so he is not even in the preliminary list.
In October, Bangladesh will play Hong Kong in two home-and-away matches in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers. The first match will be held at the National Stadium on 9 October, and the second in Hong Kong on 14 October. After playing two matches in the qualifiers so far, Bangladesh are in third place with 1 point. Hong Kong are second with 4 points, Singapore are top with 4 points, and India are fourth with 1 point, equal to Bangladesh.
