If the bullets had lodged a few millimetres the other way, the man that has gone on to become one of Bangladesh’s greatest football servants wouldn’t be here talking with FIFA.
On the eve of his nation’s opening match at the FIFA ASEAN Cup, Jamal Bhuyan recalled that terrifying moment two decades ago when his life flashed before his eyes.
“I was born and raised in Copenhagen and it was there one afternoon that I was shot. I was near school, with my backpack on and a guy came running over and told us to leave the area and I was like what is he talking about,” he explained.
“Then one or two moments later the bullets came and I was shot four times. I spent three days in a coma and then several more months in the hospital to recover.
“It was a really tragic situation for me because I was in a good place at that time and playing well in the youth team at FC Copenhagen.
“When I woke up from the coma, I remember I told the nurse that I had to call my coach and tell him that I won’t be able to make the game tomorrow. She asked me what day I thought it was and I told her ‘yeah it’s Friday.’
“Then she said ‘no, it’s Monday,’ and she gave me a newspaper and showed me what had happened.”
If that was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Bangladesh captain has gone on to make a wonderful career of being in the right place at the right time.
Having played for clubs in Denmark, Bangladesh, India and Argentina, the 36-year-old is now also closing in on a century of international caps. Whenever his nation has needed him, wherever he has been based, Bhuyan has always answered the call and, as he tells FIFA, as long as his body holds up, he has no intention of walking away from that responsibility.
“Of course, everything has an end, but at the moment I still feel my body is in good shape and I have such a soft spot for the national team and for Bangladesh in general.
“I’ve spoken with a lot of players who have retired and they always say they wished they could have cherished those moments more at the time.
“I know too that there are so many people who have big expectations for me and for the team. That’s especially the case when you play for a country like Bangladesh, where there's almost 180 million people and you're one of the selected ones in a 23-man squad.
“That’s not something I take lightly and every time I go to the pitch or every time I'm with the national team, it's special because I've seen so many come and go over the years and the more that I'm here with the team, the more I enjoy it because I love football, I love my team and my country.”
That love of the game also extends to Bhuyan enjoying the simple pleasures of being a fan. As many Bangladeshis do, the midfielder grew up as a supporter of the Brazilian national team and he is not long returned from a magical summer odyssey, criss-crossing the United States during the FIFA World Cup™.
“During the first part of the World Cup I was in Bangladesh and I then went to America to watch six or seven matches. I was there for three weeks, and went to New York, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Kansas, LA and Seattle.
“I’ve been a Brazil fan since 1997 so maybe I shouldn’t it say it but the highlight was probably being at the Argentina v Egypt match. There was so much drama, with goals being scored, goals being cancelled, seeing Argentina fans crying when they were down and out and then the whole stadium going crazy at the end.
“Even as a Brazil fan I was like, this is a crazy atmosphere!”
Bhuyan is hoping that Bangladesh may have more than a little slice of that kind of an atmosphere when they face the ASEAN Cup co-hosts Indonesia next week.
FIFA’s newest tournament also presents an opportunity for the Red and Green Warriors to test themselves at a high level, against emerging and established Southeast Asin nations.
The ultimate goal is then for Bhuyan to be able to travel to another World Cup, but this time to also watch Bangladesh on the global stage, not just the Seleção.
“Of course we have expectations to do well in this tournament and to perform well and we’re really looking forward to playing in front of big crowds in Jakarta.
“We know we are the lowest ranked team in the group, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and then us but we have our own expectations and also those of our country. We are targeting to get three or four points, and in football, you never know what can happen then, right?
“Then after that, of course we all have dreams and we all want our own country to participate in the World Cup because it's the biggest stage in the world. We need to do more to develop, with a better league and maybe having more players overseas to get to that stage but the dream is there.
“You can’t imagine how crazy things are in Bangladesh during the World Cup. You will see every building in the capital has a flag - either it's Brazil or Argentina or maybe England – but whenever Brazil or Argentina play, there's 20 to 30,000 people watching it on big screens.
“So, just imagine if we could actually play in a World Cup….that would be a whole different level of crazy!”
Courtesy: FIFA
