We are looking for last two or three pieces of the puzzle: Hamza Choudhury

Although Bangladesh lost 1-0 to Singapore, Hamza Choudhury sees signs of improvement in the team's performance. In his view, through the ups and downs of the past one and a half years, Bangladesh is becoming a team capable of competing on the field against big teams. Now the only need is to improve in a few areas and complete their own game.

Speaking to FIFA after the match against Singapore, Hamza said, "I think we are now looking for the last two or three pieces of the puzzle. Hopefully, we can fit them together perfectly."

The Sheffield United midfielder sees his first one and a half years with Bangladesh as an "amazing experience". However, he admitted that difficult moments have come more than good times.

Hamza said, "Personally, it has been an amazing experience. Alhamdulillah. Of course, there were ups and downs. Unfortunately, difficult moments have probably come more than good times so far. But we are working and preparing the team to move towards something better."

Bangladesh's experience in big tournaments like the Asian Cup is comparatively limited. Therefore, Hamza does not see matches against established teams like Malaysia and Singapore merely as a matter of wins and losses. In his view, testing their own capability and competing against big teams in such matches is an important part of improvement.

Speaking about the Singapore match, he said, "I felt we were better today (Monday). Malaysia is a very good team. In the first match against them, we started very slowly, so coming back against a team of their quality became difficult."

Malaysia is far ahead of Bangladesh in the FIFA rankings. However, Hamza believes that gap on paper is not always visible on the field.

He said, "It is great for us to be able to compete at this level. They are above us in the rankings. But looking at some moments on the field, that gap is not really visible. So we must be doing something right."

Hamza believes there are still a few areas where Bangladesh needs to work for improvement. And he wants to prepare for the SAFF Championship at home in November by maintaining that momentum of improvement.

Hamza said, "We have a big tournament at home in November. Insha'Allah, we are preparing with that in mind and hope we can achieve some success there."

Hamza is also having new experiences off the field on his journey with Bangladesh. This was his first time in Indonesia. Some friends and family members had been to the country earlier and spoken of good experiences. This time, he himself was impressed by Indonesia's hospitality.

Hamza said, "I liked it very much. Really good! This is my first time in Indonesia. Many of my friends and some family members have come here before. They only said good things. So it was great to see it for myself."

However, he found the hot weather somewhat difficult. He said, "The people are very friendly. The weather is a bit too hot for me. But overall, I really enjoyed it. I hope I can come again and visit other places in Indonesia as well."

A large crowd is expected in the stands for Bangladesh's match against Indonesia on Thursday. Hamza believes this will also be a new experience for the team.

"I am really looking forward to the match. I know there will be more spectators in the stands. So as a team, this will be another valuable experience for us," he said.

Several players who play in top European leagues are in the Indonesia squad. As a result, Hamza believes the match will be a tough test for Bangladesh. However, he wants to test their own capability against such a team.

In Hamza's words, "Indonesia is a very good team. Many of their players play in top European leagues. So this will also be a tough test for us. But we have come here precisely for this reason — to compete against teams that are currently above us."