In the sixth minute, Hamza Chowdhury gave Bangladesh the lead with a header from a corner.
After 55 long months, football returned to the national stadium. The stands echoed with cheers and slogans from the excited fans. Hamza’s goal sparked waves of joy throughout the stadium. Bangladesh went into halftime leading Bhutan with the happiness of that early goal.
On Wednesday, at Dhaka’s national stadium, Bangladesh faced Bhutan in a friendly match. Dominating possession and attack, Javier Cabrera’s team ended the first half 1-0 ahead.
Hamza made his Bangladesh debut last March in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers against India. Playing for the first time on home soil, the England-based defensive midfielder didn’t take long to shine — scoring to put his team ahead in the sixth minute.
From the start, Bangladesh played aggressively in search of a goal. In the third minute, Kazem Shah Kirmani’s low cross found Jamal Bhuiyan, but he couldn’t connect properly. A minute later, Hamza’s shot from Kazem’s cutback was blocked by the defense.
Then came the sixth minute, when the crowd erupted in wild celebration. Hamza jumped highest on Jamal’s corner and headed the ball into the net. But after the goal, Bangladesh briefly lost some rhythm.
In the 21st minute, confusion in their own half led to a loss of possession by Tariq. Kingma Wangchuk of Bhutan pushed forward with the ball, and Tapu Barman made a mistake trying to stop him. However, the experienced defender quickly recovered and averted danger for Bangladesh.
The 30th minute saw Rakib attacking swiftly down the left. His pass reached Kirmani, who laid it off to Fahamidul. The young forward’s shot was punched away by the goalkeeper. Soon after, Jamal’s attempt sailed far wide of the post.
Six minutes later, Hamza’s through ball found Taj’s cross, but Rakib’s flick was off target and the ball landed at Jamal’s feet. From outside the small box, the captain’s shot was blocked by defender AC Gaieltesen after hitting his body.
