Hamza revels in playing for Bangladesh

Shillong: Having represented England — where he was born — at under-21 level, Hamza Choudhury made his first start for the country of his mother's origin here on Tuesday, having officially made the switch at international level in December last year."Oh, I was so proud when the national anthem began," Choudhury, who has 50 caps for Leicester City in the Premier League, said after the match. "It gave me goosebumps."It marks the first time ever a Premier League footballer played for the Bengal Tigers.It could be Choudhury's crowning achievement in an already promising career that included captaining his boyhood club Leicester and then becoming the first player of Bangladeshi origin to lift the FA Cup with the Premier League club in 2019.But Choudhury has not been one to rest on his laurels and used his platform to show solidarity for Palestine, just as he wishes to do in inspiring more South Asian representation in English football. And on Tuesday, although the 27-year-old concentrated in strengthening the Bangladesh backline, the motivation his teammates felt in his presence lifted the team's game."More than his qualities as a player, it's his quality as a teammate that gives the team so much confidence that everyone plays better with him around," coach Javier Cabrera said in the post-match interaction.His quality as a player was certainly evident in glimpses, especially while marking veteran Sunil Chhetri, but Choudhury — true to his personality — was quick to play down his influence upon the team."We are actually strongest as a team. We are all looking out for one another and trying to bring the spirit up of the whole team," he said. "I think I will do better for the team in the upcoming matches. I was just with the team for the last five days, which is a very short period," further added Choudhury.And while India were a disappointing opposition at JN Stadium on the day, there was no denying that Bangladesh could have taken all three points if they could pounce on the hosts' mistakes on more than one occasion."But that's football and everyone misses chances sometimes. You watch the Premier League and there's always missed opportunities… But it's not been a bad day for us," he opined.And all of Bangladesh will hope that their next AFC Asian Cup Qualifier proves to be even better for Choudhury & Co. "I hope the fans keep supporting us. It just creates such positive vibes in the team. And inshallah we can do better in June," the current poster boy of Bangladesh football signed off.

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