Confident Hamza ready to make country proud

Bangladesh midfielder Hamza Dewan Chowdhury is confident his side can compete against higher-ranked opponents in the ASEAN Cup, insisting they have no reason to fear anyone as they prepare to begin their campaign against Malaysia on Friday.

Bangladesh are ranked 181st in the FIFA rankings, while Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia occupy 136th, 148th and 118th positions respectively.

Despite the difference in rankings, Hamza believes the tournament offers Bangladesh a valuable opportunity to collect points, gain experience and make the country proud.

“We're very excited and honoured to be included in this tournament. For us, this is obviously a big opportunity to play against teams that are ranked higher than us,” he said.

“Internally, it's to get as many points as we can. We're not here to fear anyone. We know what we're capable of. Inshallah, it's a learning curve for us and we're here to gain as much experience as we can and hopefully make our country proud.”

The midfielder also praised the hospitality and facilities in the host country, saying the training pitches and hotel arrangements had been excellent.

“Football's massive here and the facilities have been very good. The pitches have been perfect for us to train on. Everyone has been very friendly, so we're enjoying it,” he expressed.

Hamza acknowledged the quality of their opening opponents, describing Malaysia as a strong side with an excellent head coach and suggesting they could challenge for a place at the next World Cup.

“They're obviously ranked quite well. They've got very good quality in the team and a very good head coach. As a country, they put a lot of emphasis on football, so I think they have a very good side,” he explained.

Hamza also expressed his excitement about facing Millwall defender Elkan Baggott, whom he met during the flight.

“I think he's obviously a very good player, still very young. Millwall are a very good team, so I'm looking forward to playing against him in this tournament and obviously in the league too,” he added.

Bangladesh will look to make a positive start against Malaysia before taking on Singapore and Indonesia in their remaining group matches.