If everything goes as planned, Hamza Choudhury will make his debut for Bangladesh in March. But before that, he has already made his mark in a Sheffield United jersey. The defensive midfielder of Bangladeshi descent impressed in his very first appearance for the club, earning the Man of the Match award.
Sheffield United secured a 1-0 victory over Derby County at Pride Park last night. The winning goal came in the 49th minute from Chilean forward Ben Brereton Díaz, keeping Sheffield in second place in the Championship standings.
The top two teams in the Championship earn direct promotion to the Premier League. If Sheffield can maintain this position, they will return to England’s top flight next season.
This season, Hamza struggled for game time at Leicester City, spending most of his time on the bench with limited opportunities as a substitute. To gain more playing time, Leicester sent him on loan to Sheffield United.
Sheffield coach Chris Wilder placed his trust in Hamza from the start, and the 27-year-old repaid that faith with a commanding 90-minute performance. He shielded the defense and controlled midfield, distributing the ball efficiently to his teammates.
Hamza’s dominance on his Sheffield debut is evident in his stats—61 touches, 100% dribble success, 80% pass accuracy, four successful long balls, five ground duels won, three interceptions, and two successful tackles. Notably, no Derby player managed to dribble past or tackle him.
His outstanding performance rightfully earned him the Man of the Match award. Sheffield United conducted a fan poll on their official X page, where Hamza received an overwhelming 70.5% of the votes. The club even shared a picture of him in action, captioning it: ‘A POTM (Player of the Match) performance on debut.’
Hamza also topped Google’s player ratings, receiving 4.6 out of 5—the highest in the match—while goal-scorer Brereton Díaz scored 4.5.
After the match, Sheffield manager Chris Wilder praised Hamza’s display: ‘Hamza played exactly how we know he can. He hadn’t played much football for a while, yet he controlled the game in every role. I initially planned to take him off after 70 minutes, but he was playing so well that I couldn’t.’
