A spirited Bangladesh side concluded their AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers with a goalless draw against rivals India in a power-interrupted game at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The hosts were all over the visitors throughout the entire game, dominating midfield, holding ball possession and creating the most chances but a lack of composure in the final third ensured Bangladesh would end their campaign without a single goal to their name.
India also finished the Qualifiers without scoring but ended third in the group, ahead of Bangladesh, due to a better goal difference. Syria topped Group E with maximum nine points while Uzbekistan finished second.
Bangladesh and India’s encounter yesterday was a repeat of the previous two clashes between the senior teams of the south Asian rivals in the last couple of years. While Bangladesh displayed better football on both the occasions, they were denied by some dogged Indian defending. Bangladesh striker Wahed Ahmed made way for Aminur Rahman Sajib and although the latter was unable to score a goal, his movement and ball distribution were more visible than Wahed.
Lodewijk de Kruif made two more changes in the line-up. Nurul Naim Faisal replaced the suspended captain Rayhan Hasan while defender Shahedul Alam Shahed was included in place of right-back Nahidul Islam Nahid.
India on the other hand brought in two changes for the Bangladesh tie. Defender Sandesh came in place of the suspended centre-back Shankar Samingiraj while forward Sumeet Passi started ahead of Rai Vinit.
The first half was not a memorable one for either side. The home side bossed midfield but were unable to create any concrete chances. Instead, India almost went ahead in the 33rd minute when Holicharan Narzary snatched the ball from the feet of Faisal outside the box. Faisal was anticipating a back-pass from Shakil Ahmed but Holicharan beat him to it. Faisal, however, atoned for his mistake by stopping Holicharan just when he was about to pull the trigger.
The game was then stopped for 21 minutes due to a sudden power failure. And it seemed like Bangladesh benefitted the most from the unscheduled breather as they started the second half brightly. At the hour-mark, Yeasin Khan was unlucky not to connect his header from a Sohel Rana corner.
In a bid to break the deadlock, Toklis and Rubel were brought on in the final 10 minutes in place of Jewel Rana and Sojib. The young duo repaid the coach’s faith by continuously threatening the opposition terrain. However, the Indian backline held strong as the game petered out in a stalemate.
