Employee correspondent |
Published: 22:58, 01 Oct 2021
Bangladesh defender Topu Barman (C) celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal against Sri Lanka during the 2021 SAFF championship game at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives. – BFF photo
Bangladesh got off to a successful start to the 2021 SAFF Championship when they defeated a 10-man Sri Lanka by a single goal in the opening game of the Five Nations Tournament at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives on Friday.
This was a rare win for the men in red and green as it was their first international football win in 10 games.
The last time Bangladesh won an international was when they played on Nepal 18.
Sri Lanka was reduced to 10 when defender Duckson Puslas was sent off with a second yellow card after he committed a handball in the penalty area that paved the way for Bangladesh’s winning goal.
Defender Topu Barman made no mistake when the central defender casually converted the penalty in the 56th minute and gave his team the decisive lead.
After the lead against a 10-man Sri Lanka, who are behind Bangladesh in the rankings, so If Oscar Bruzon’s protégés scored more goals, they shouldn’t.
Striker Biplu Ahmed and midfielder Rakib Hossain missed a chance every few minutes before the final whistle.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would have had in the 78th minute almost equalized, but striker Razeek Ahmed Waseem’s shot from close range failed to Bangladesh’s goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico.
Bangladesh did better in the first half in terms of chances than Sohel Rana and Topu the Lankan defense threatened in the 38th minute and in stoppage time of the first half.
Bruzon, who replaced regular coach Jamie Day for the tournament, was quite satisfied with the performance of his team.
« We got the three points … I am absolutely satisfied with the performance. But in the next game we have to be aware … Our team looked much stronger physically, « said the Spaniard in the press conference after the game.
» We were consistent and my only concern was to improve the performance of our finishers. We’ll work on that. If we have more conversion opportunities, the results could be better. «
Topu, who scored the decisive goal, was satisfied with the full three points, but is now concentrating on the next games.
» The Victory in the first game was very important to us and we achieved our first goal. We have three more games in the [league phase] and now we want to prepare for the next game. ”
Bruzon’s Sri Lankan counterpart Amir Alagic claimed it was an even game until Syrian referee Feras Taweel did it with the spoiled red card.
« There was nothing wrong with our team and our performance until the red card … That performance by the referee killed all things, honestly, it was terrible [decision]. If we weren’t 10 [men] we could draw the game, « said Alagic.
Bangladesh will play their next three games against seven-time champions India, the defending champions, on October 4th, 7th and 13th in the same place Maldives and Nepal.
Editor: Nurul Kabir, Edited by Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan
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