'Incredible' - Sheffield United man reflects on tournament experience as Bangladesh dream ends
Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury has completed Bangladesh’s opening two games at the FIFA ASEAN Cup.
Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury and Bangladesh have been eliminated from the FIFA ASEAN Cup with one group game still to play.
After losing 3-0 to Malaysia in their tournament opener last week, Bangladesh were beaten 1-0 by Singapore on Monday, leaving them bottom of Group A with zero points to their name following their opening two matches.
Despite having one match still to play, they can no longer occupy either of the top two spots in Group A, with leaders Malaysia and second-placed Indonesia already on four points each. Bangladesh face second-placed Indonesia, who are hosting the tournament, in their final group game on Thursday.
The winner of Group A will take on the winner of Group B in the Division 1 final next Monday, while the runners-up of the two groups will go head-to-head in the bronze final earlier that day.
Bangladesh and Choudhury, who returned to Bramall Lane from Leicester City last month, can no longer qualify for either match, meaning their tournament will come to an end after their final group game against Indonesia.
Although the tournament has so far been disappointing for Bangladesh, who are currently ranked 182nd in the FIFA world rankings, Choudhury has logged 180 minutes, completing the full 90 minutes in both of their opening two fixtures. Prior to the start of the tournament, he had not completed 90 minutes since United’s 3-1 defeat to Norwich City at Bramall Lane on September 5.
Despite back-to-back defeats at the ASEAN Cup, Choudhury is confident that Bangladesh are moving in the right direction.
”Personally, it’s been an incredible experience,” he told FIFA. “There have been ups and downs, of course.
“Unfortunately, there have probably been more difficult moments than good ones so far, but we’re continuing to work and build towards something better.
“I thought we were even better today. Malaysia are a very good team, and I think we started that match very slowly, which made it difficult to come back against a team of their quality.”