Another blow to Bangladesh’s already battered psyche came in the form of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Lebanon in the opening game of the SAFF Championships for Group B, which took place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium yesterday. Bangladesh’s late goals allowed Lebanon to win the match 2-0.
The top-ranked team in the competition, Lebanon, was considered to be the tournament’s heavy favorite; nevertheless, Javier Cabrera’s squad came dangerously close to replicating the achievement they accomplished in 2011, when they upset Lebanon 2-0 in the World Cup pre-qualifiers held in Dhaka.
Before the hour mark, young winger Faisal Ahmed Fahim squandered a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. Following that, defenders Tariq Raihan Kazi and debutant Isa Faysal made two costly errors to shatter Bangladesh’s dream of snatching a point from the Middle Eastern nation, who are 93 places ahead of Bangladesh in the FIFA Rankings.
Cabrera put his chances on the same eleven that he fielded during the two preparation matches against Tiffy Army FC and Cambodia. He made just two changes in defense by integrating fit-again center-back Tapu Barman and left-back Faysal. Cabrera’s hopes were pinned on the same eleven that he fielded during the two preparation matches.
Ali Al Haj and Karim Darwich posed a threat inside the opening 20 minutes of the match as Bangladesh struggled to compete against opponents who were physically and technically superior to them. The majority of the stands were empty at this time.
On the other hand, as the game went on, they played significantly better in comparison to how they did against Cambodia. Jamal and his teammates launched their assault from the right wing, and one of their chances resulted in Fahim racing into the penalty area to take a shot, but goalkeeper Ali Sabeh made a diving save at the near post.
After play was resumed, Lebanon introduced three new sets of legs and placed a significant amount of pressure on Bangladesh; nevertheless, Anisur Rahman Zico maintained his composure despite two near misses.
In the sixty minute, Bangladesh came near to breaking the deadlock when Fahim ran into the box fully unchecked. However, he drove a low effort straight at Sabeh, wasting the greatest opportunity of the match.
After that, Bangladesh’s defenders fell back into their old ways, making fundamental mistakes that ultimately lost them the game. The squad paid a high price in the 80th minute as Tariq tried to dribble out of pressure despite being the last defender. Karim Darwich intercepted the ball and advanced on goal before setting up Maatouk for a simple tap-in goal.
In the dying moments of the contest, Bangladesh came close to tying the score, but substitute Rafiqul Islam was unable to convert on a cut-back from Rakib Hossain. This allowed Lebanon to launch a counterattack, which ultimately resulted in the game being won by Lebanon when Faysal’s half-hearted attempt to clear the ball was pounced upon.