Hamza celebrates Eid with teammates

Bangladesh face Singapore in the Asian Cup qualifier at home on 10 June. Ahead of the match, the national team camp is being held at Hotel Intercontinental in Shahbagh, the capital. The footballers are celebrating Eid together at the team hotel.

The players joined the Eid congregation at Chand Masjid, near the team hotel, at 7:00 am this morning. They were dressed in white panjabis, given to them as gifts by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).

BFF executive members Imtiaz Hamid Sobuj, Shakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan and Iqbal Hossain joined the players at the congregation to offer Eid prayers. Following the jamaat, the national footballers embraced with the locals. They then returned to the hotel and exchanged Eid greetings with each other.

Apart from the regular breakfast, shemai was specially arranged for the players. They will have the regular menu for lunch, while a special arrangement is planned for dinner. Most of the footballers are spending the occasion at the team hotel, except for those who have family in Dhaka. However, they have been asked to join the team at lunch by 2:00 pm.

Hamza Choudhury went out for a short while. The ever-smiling football sensation greeted the nation saying, “If we beat Singapore on 10th, then it will be the real joy of Eid.”

Shamit Shome, who recently joined the team, was in his room. His uncle came to visit him. Meanwhile, Fahamidul was waiting for his mother. Families of a few other players also came to the team hotel to meet and greet.

However, the players have training sessions even on Eid. The training session starts at 5:00 pm at the National Stadium. Although there was a heavy downpour in the afternoon, a member of the team’s support staff said training would go ahead as planned.

This is the third time in the last one decade that the national footballers are celebrating Eid in the team hotel. Before this, the footballers spent Eid in the national team camp during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and the 2023 SAFF Championship in Bengaluru.

In the meantime, the women’s national football team has already returned from Jordan after playing two practice matches there, ahead of the Women’s Asia Cup to be held in Myanmar later this month.

Although a few of the female footballers went home on a 2-day Eid vacation granted by the BFF, many stayed at the BFF camp to avoid the hassle of Eid-journey. The BFF also arranged Eid gifts for the female footballers at the camp.