Saad Uddin paved the way for Bangladesh to reach their first-ever final in the Saff Under-16 Championship as the home side edged past Afghanistan 1-0 in the first semifinal of the contest at the jam-packed Sylhet District Stadium in Sylhet.
The margin was the same from two years back when the red and greens beat Afghanistan to secure the third place in the previous edition of the tournament in Nepal. Yesterday, Bangladesh held on to the early second-half goal from midfielder Saad to book a place in the final against India on August 18 at the same venue.
The Afghans, on the other hand, will be blaming their fate and lack of proper finishing as they could have easily put the hosts under pressure in the first-half but failed horribly to capitalise on the gifted opportunity.
Defender Jahangir Alam Sajeeb brought down Afghan forward Abdul Naser Amini inside the box which resulted in a penalty in favour of the visitors in the 38th minute. However, Afghanistan captain Omid Haidar sent the spot kick miles over the cross bar as the home crowd took a sign of relief.
The support from the stands for the young booters has been exceptional throughout the tournament and it wasn’t any different in the do-or-die encounter yesterday. Saad’s strike 11-minutes after the breather left the Sylhet crowd ecstatic as Bangladesh lived to maintain their 100 percent winning record in the event. It was full-back Khalil Bhuiyan’s corner that was won by Shaun inside the box before the midfielder set up the Player of the Match, Saad, for a calm finish.
Early morning rain left the playing pitch muddy as players of both sides found it difficult to control their balance and the ball throughout the 90 minutes. The knockout game produced seven yellow cards with four shown to the eventual winners.
India also reached the final beating Nepal 1-0 in the day’s second semifinal. Rahim Ali netted the all important goal in the 22nd minute.
Bangladesh Squad
Faysal Ahmed, Shaun Hossain, Emon Khan, Mohammed Atikuzzaman, Jahangir Alam Sajeeb, Khalil Bhuiyan, Fahim Murshed, Mohammad Shawon, Saad Uddin, Mostajeb Khan, Sarowar Zaman Nipu.