Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dooley believes there is no better captain for the national team than Hamza Choudhury after the midfielder led the side to a 4-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the SAFF Championship on Wednesday.
Hamza captained Bangladesh for the first time at the National Stadium in Dhaka and marked the occasion with a goal. Asked to rate his performance out of 10, Dooley did not hesitate.
“Ten. I mean, it was excellent. What else do you want to do? He scored five goals?” the coach joked at the post-match press conference.
Dooley also expressed his hope that Hamza would continue wearing the armband whenever he plays for Bangladesh.
He explained that Hamza had initially been reluctant to take the captaincy, while Jamal Bhuyan had been the team’s captain. However, the circumstances changed with Jamal not starting and other senior players unavailable.
“Now Saad is out also and they said he would love to do it. And then there’s no better captain than Hamza, there’s no question about that,” Dooley said.
“I hope that he wants to be the captain every time he’s playing. He is also important because he is the only one actually who can talk to the referee. With his presence on the field, it’s very important to have a player like him.”
While Hamza enjoyed a memorable night, Farhan Ali Wahid produced one of the match’s outstanding moments with a superb solo goal. The winger dribbled past several Sri Lankan defenders before finishing with a shot that drew admiration from the crowd.
Dooley described the goal as “unbelievable” and praised both the dribbling and the finish.
Asked whether it was among the best goals he had witnessed during his coaching career, the Bangladesh coach agreed.
“Absolutely. It was really amazing how he dribbled through those three or four guys, and then the shot was also very difficult and beautiful,” he said.
Dooley added that Hamza’s backheel pass, which could also have resulted in a goal, would have made the evening even more special.
Bangladesh also received goals from Shamit Shome and Rakib Hossain as they completed a convincing victory to finish their group-stage campaign on a high.
