Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Nov 11, 2025 (BSS) - Bangladesh National Football Team forward Rakib 
Hossain said the team is boosted and motivated in presence of Hamza before 
the two matches against Nepal and India.

Bangladesh will take on India in their home match of the AFC Asian Cup 
qualifiers on November 18. Before the Asian Cup, Bangladesh will face Nepal 
in the FIFA Int'l friendly match on November 13. 
 
"When he (Hamza) comes in the team our players become morally up and the team 
is quite boosted at the movement in presence of Hamza," Rakib said during the 
team's practice session held at Kings Arena in the capital today.
 
"Actually every match is important because if you want to win the match you 
need to score ... We'll try utmost to score goals in both the two matches," 
he said. 

Replying to another question the forward said it has been good for them as 
India star football player Sunil Chhetri would play the match against them. 

Tickets for the much-awaited Bangladesh-India football clash were sold out 
within just four minutes, as all 18,000 general gallery seats were quickly 
taken by enthusiastic fans.

When wanted to know his reaction in this regard, Rakib said, "The main 
attraction of the match is spectators who give us energy, we sow the ticket 
sold out quickly is an inspiration for us to do something good against 
India."

"Passion for football has grown up much more than before in the country when 
Hamza came to play for the team ... It is bad luck for us we could utilize 
the opportunity and fail to bring out the result for the team despite 
performing well, but we must try to win the last two matches," Rakib said to 
a questioner.