Bangladesh suffered another agonizing heartbreak against India in a final as they lost in the grand finale of the Saff U-18 Championship after an injury time goal in Kathmandu, Nepal Sunday but their British head coach Andrew Peter Turner hailed the young booters for their valiant show.
The intense match saw as many as three marching orders and Bangladesh played with nine players for over two-thirds of the match.
But the youngsters in red and green fought with tremendous grit against the much stronger side, in spite of the numerical disadvantage, and got beaten at the very last moment.
“From the time we played with nine men, that was absolutely awesome. India found it hard to break it down. They lacked ideas and we looked comfortable. May be we could have nicked one before they got the winner,” said Turner.
However, he also criticized the goalscorer Yeasin Arafat, who received a second yellow card in rather awkward fashion as he pulled his shirt up to his face after scoring the equalizer and referee penalized him with the card, reducing personnel for the boys in red and green.
“The red cards didn’t help us. If I’m honest, for the second red card, Yeasin has something to learn from because he did something he should not have done,” added Turner.
The latest sorrow came Sunday in the Saff U-18 Championship grand finale where Bangladesh U-18 football team conceded a painful 2-1 defeat against their Indian counterparts, despite playing a little less than an hour with nine men.https://t.co/bIySuDEzVc#FOOTBALL #BFF #SAFF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 29, 2019
He did not discuss much about the brawl in the 20th minute that saw one player each from both side receive red cards.
“I was very confident that we would win the trophy with nine men, especially going into extra time when fresh blood will come on, but it was a shot that gave us no way (to return) as it went into top corner, which was out of reach of our keeper,” said Turner.
“Overall it was great effort from the boys, the way they played out the tournament. They gave India a really good run in the two games. There are lots of positives. Everybody is down at the moment but we should all be proud because on another day and another situation we win the game. Now we want to pick ourselves and carry one. We look forward to AFC qualifiers,” said Turner.
Indian head coach Floyd Pinto however, was also very happy after clinching the title.
“I had maintained that it will take a moment of brilliance to end this Saff Championship, and it was fitting that Ravi finished it off with a wonderful strike,” Pinto said after the final whistle.
“We were not just the best footballing team in the tournament, but also the most effective team. I am really happy for the boys. They earned it. The sacrifices and the commitment of the boys were exemplary,” he added.
