With just a few days remaining till the kickoff of the men’s football competition in the 17th Asian Games, the Bangladesh Under-23 team fell to a 4-2 defeat against a higher-ranked Vietnam U-23 side in a practice match at the Incheon Munhak Stadium yesterday.
More than the defeat itself, the absence of veteran defender Atiqur Rahman Meshu in the practice match due to injury was a source of worry for Bangladesh. Meshu tore the ligaments in his left leg while challenging striker Jewel Rana during a training session on Tuesday and Bangladesh’s campaign got off on the wrong foot even before the Asiad got underway as the centreback was later ruled out of the tournament.
Team manager Amirul Islam Babu confirmed Meshu’s non-participation in the competition, scheduled to begin on Sunday. “Immediately after the injury, Meshu was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors said he had no chance whatsoever of being fit during the tournament. He will fly back to the country within a day or two,” Babu told Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
In the absence of Meshu, Bangladesh conceded two goals without reply in the first half. Bangladesh’s best moment in the game came when they scored two goals to reduce the margin from 3-0 to 3-2 although Vietnam soon grabbed the fourth goal to ensure victory. Forwards Wahed Ahmed and Toklis Ahmed were the goalscorers for Bangladesh.
Denmark-born Bangladeshi expatriate Jamal Bhuiyan made the starting eleven and partnered skipper Mamunul Islam in central midfield. Rana started upfront with Wahed and Toklis on the bench.
Vietnam, ranked 139th in the world rankings and positioned 31 places higher than Bangladesh, went ahead in the 18th minute before doubling their lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later. After shipping two early goals, Bangladesh’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif bolstered his defence by sending on Tapu Barman in place of Yousuf Sifat.
Later on in the game, Mohammedan striker Wahed replaced defender Kesto Kumar in the 46th minute and that is when the tide started swinging in favour of Bangladesh. Immediately after his inception, Wahed kept on pressurising the opposition backline while Hemanta Vincent Biswas squandered a golden opportunity in the 52nd minute. And against the run of play, Vietnam extended their lead to 3-0 in the 63rd minute.
Toklis then came off the bench two minutes later replacing Rana and the attacking duo of Wahed and Toklis made all the difference between the two sides in the rest of the game.
Wahed pulled one back in the 70th minute slotting home a pass from Sohel Rana. In the meantime goalkeeper Russel Mahmud Liton produced a superb save three minutes later to rescue Bangladesh from further peril.
Toklis displayed great skill and technique to reduce the margin scoring with a solo effort in the 75th minute but Vietnam’s two-goal cushion was restored again in the 90th minute.
“It’s just a friendly match. Bangladesh tried to perform well and I think the players played well but it was bad luck that we lost the game,” said De Kruif after the game.
“We couldn’t perform as expected. The defence line was weaker and not upto the mark after the absence of Meshu due to injury,” added Kruif.
Meanwhile, Babu informed that the Bangladesh Football Federation is looking to arrange another friendly for the national side ahead of their opening group stage game against Afghanistan at the same venue on Monday.
