Bangladesh made entries into the Maldives’ attacking third more than three times than the visiting opponents during Wednesday’s first FIFA friendly held in the capital’s Kings Arena as the hosts lost the tie narrowly.
The 1-0 scoreline in Maldives’ favor did not tell the whole picture according to the stats provided by the Bangladesh team’s video analyst, who also pointed out that Bangladesh had three times as many shots - 17 against the tourists’ five.
Bangladesh made forays into the opposition’s attacking third 43 times while the visitors managed to do it on a dozen occasions, crucially finding the back of the net from one of the very first attempts.
The men in red and green delivered 17 crosses in the danger zone of the Maldives, who produced only two throughout the match dominated by the home side.
Against the Maldives’ five corners, Bangladesh had 11.
Bangladesh, ranked 185th and 22 places behind the Maldives in the FIFA ranking, will look to level the series in the second and final friendly Saturday at the same venue.
