Bangladesh edged past holders India 4-3 in the penalty shootout to qualify for the final of the SAFF Under-20 Championship at ANFA complex in Lalitpur, Kathmandu Monday.
The semi-final was locked at 1-1 after the end of 90 minutes before Bangladesh’s substitute goalkeeper Mohammad Asif produced two saves in the tiebreaker to guide his team to the grand finale, where they will face Nepal Wednesday at the same venue.
Asadul Mollah put Bangladesh ahead in the 36th minute with a nice placing shot from the danger zone, capitalizing on a good left wing cross from his teammate amid huge cheers from a group of Bangladeshi fans.
Ricky Meetei Haobom provided India a lifeline in the 75th minute, grabbing the equalizer with a grounded shot from goalmouth melee.
After a 1-1 draw in normal time, the second semi-final moved directly to a penalty shootout as per tournament regulation, and Bangladesh emerged victorious riding on the heroics of Asif.
Asif saved the first and fifth Indian penalties while the Bangladesh booters converted all four spot kicks.
Bangladesh captain and No 1 goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Srabon left the field with an injury in the 69th minute, while another key player, Kamacai Marma, got the marching orders in the later part of the match, throwing Bangladesh in a difficult situation.
In the post-match press briefing, head coach of the Bangladesh team, Maruful Haque said: "Our initial target was to play in the final; we achieved it; now we expect a good final against Nepal and do hope we have a good chance to win the final beating Nepal.
Earlier, Bangladesh booked a seat for the semis as the Group A runners up with three points, beating Sri Lanka 2-0 and losing to hosts Nepal 1-2.
India reached the semi-finals as the Group B champions with an all-win record, securing maximum points beating both Bhutan and the Maldives by similar 1-0 margin.
Nepal emerged as Group A winners to qualify for the semis with an all-win run, bagging full six points from two games, beating Sri Lanka 1-0 apart from beating Bangladesh 2-1.
And they reached the finale eliminating Bhutan 4-1 goals in the tiebreaker in the first semi-final Sunday.
