The Bangladesh Under-23 football team crashed out of the 17th Asian Games after going down to a 2-1 defeat in their last group match against Hong Kong at the Hwaseong Stadium in Incheon, South Korea yesterday.
Despite the exit at the first hurdle, Bangladesh put up a courageous display and left the tournament on a positive note.
Not only did the boys in Red and Green achieve a victory against defending Saff champions Afghanistan after 28 long years, they did not bow their heads despite the fact that they were ranked far lower than all the other three teams in Group B.
It was a must win game for Bangladesh in order to progress to the next round, something they have never done before in the history of the Asiad. Unlike the previous game which Bangladesh lost 3-0 against top-seed Uzbekistan, Hong Kong were never able to assert their authority over the opposition yesterday. Four years ago against the same opponents, Bangladesh were outplayed 4-1 in the previous edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Bangladesh were in control for large parts of the game. Hong Kong goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai produced a decent save to deny Zahid Hossain’s angular shot from the edge of the box.
Sohel Rana on the other end made a goal-line clearance five minutes later to keep the scoreline goalless in the opening half.
C Annan opened the scoring for Hong Kong eight minutes into the second half from a header.
Bangladesh though refused to relinquish as Mohammedan starlet Hemanta Vincent Biswas almost equalised on the hour-mark. Receiving a pass from winger Zahid Hossain, Hemanta found the Hong Kong custodian on an one-on-one situation but shot wide.
And against the run of play, Lam Hok-Hei doubled the lead in the 73rd minute with another header which beat Bangladesh goalie Russel Mahmud Liton.
Substitute forward Aminur Rahman Sajib pulled one back for Bangladesh in the 77th minute which proved to be nothing than a mere consolation. Yapp failed to grasp a shot clearly from Zahid and the ball fell kindly at the feet of an unmarked Sajib who smashed home from inside the box.
With seven points, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan, placed third in the Asian Football Confederation rankings, went through to the second round from Group B. Bangladesh finished third with three points while Afghanistan bowed out of the event in last position without a single point.
