Bangladesh football team conceded a narrow 1-0 defeat to the visiting Maldives side in the first of the two-match FIFA international friendly series at Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital Wednesday.
The hosts had better possession, dominated the game and created more chances but could not find the net while the Maldives found it in their very first attempt.
Javier Cabrera gave Bangladeshi-Canadian midfielder Syed Quazem Kirmanee Shah his first appearance in the starting XI, five months after the 26-year old made his debut as substitute against Lebanon during the World Cup qualifiers.
Quazem was fielded in place of the other expatriate midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan who was left out of the squad for both the friendlies against the Maldives.
Young defender Shakil Ahad also made his debut appearance in the absence of another expatriate Tariq Kazi who was unavailable due to compulsory military training in Finland.
Sheikh Morsalin found the ball inside the box twice within six minutes but both ended in vain – the header went over while the shot was blocked nearby.
The completely unmarked Ali Fasir put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute as his close-range glancing header from Hamza Mohamed’s free-kick gave Bangladesh goalkeeper Mitul Marma no chance.
The home side put in efforts for the equalizer but Sohel Rana, Foysal Ahmed Fahim and Rakib Hossain saw their shots go to waste prior to the break.
Sohel rattled the sidebar once at the stroke of the first half.
Hamza had a big chance to double the lead just after the hour mark as he was on one-on-one with Mitul against the run of play before Rakib tackled from behind.
Mojibur Rahman Jony, coming in as second-half substitute, took a powerful shot on target but the Maldives keeper Hussain Shareef produced a decent save.
Shareef made a diving save to make sure they maintain the lead as Morsalin was denied once again in the 86th minute.
Rakib saw his back flick go inches wide off the far post in stoppage time as Bangladesh left the pitch empty-handed.
This was the Maldives' first international match this year after they bowed out of the World Cup qualifiers following defeat to Bangladesh in the play-offs last year.
The two sides will take on each other in the second and last match of the FIFA international friendly series at the same venue Saturday.