Sheikh Morsalin may have delivered the decisive strike against India last night, but it was Hamza Choudhury who anchored Bangladesh's resistance, marshalling the backline and helping end a 22-year winless run against their neighbours.
The Leicester City midfielder credited the team's collective mentality, noting how both he and Shamit Shome had tried to raise the group's standards since joining the squad.
"I feel really very happy because we won. I just joined and Shamit joined late. We just try and add a bit of quality, a bit of mentality. Today we showed we have that mentality," Hamza told reporters in the post-match presser after his side's penultimate fixture of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
He reflected on recent matches where Bangladesh dominated possession but faltered late -- leading to elimination before yesterday's match -- and contrasted that with last night's display: "Today we showed the complete opposite… maybe not so good with the ball, but we showed we can be resilient."
Even without the captain's armband, Hamza was a vocal organiser at the back, guiding the team through India's pressure spells. Asked to place the achievement alongside his English FA Cup win with Leicester City, he replied that the significance was incomparable.
"There are 180 million people that we all make happy today… you can't really compete with that anywhere else. So, yeah, it's definitely right up there."
For Hamza, the fixture carried the weight of a final. "Twenty-three years people wait to qualify for tournaments or win big games. This is our biggest game," he said.
He admitted the win against India fulfilled a personal ambition too. "You can have more than one dream," he said, adding that he remained confident Bangladesh would one day qualify for a major tournament.
Head coach Javier Cabrera shared the credit widely, choosing not to highlight individuals. Instead, he praised the collective effort from starters to late substitutes.
"It's been everyone… absolutely every single player performed well today," Cabrera said, adding that even for himself, recovering from earlier setbacks had not been easy.
