The Bangladesh Olympic football team’s hopes of making it to the Round of 16 for the second year in a row took a big hit when they lost to Myanmar 1-0 in their first game of the Asian Games in Hangzhou today.
India and China are also in the group, so Bangladesh wanted to get at least a point against their cross-border rivals. However, Murad Hasan scored an own goal, which ended their hopes.
In the last minute of the second half, Suman Reza’s header hit the goal, preventing Bangladesh from getting an equalizer. This was after the Kyrgyz referee Abdyldaev had ignored Bangladesh’s claim that there had been a touch inside the Myanmar box in the 88th minute.
“We had more chances to win, so I think we should have won the game. “We hit the post, and a clear penalty was not given to us, but we still gave up the goal because of our mistakes,” said Rahmat Mia, who was the team’s captain.
Rahmat, one of the players who also plays on the adult team, said, “We had three or four good chances, but we couldn’t take any of them. It was just bad luck for us.”
Coach Javier Cabrera used the same style of play with the Bangladesh team that he uses with the adult team. Myanmar, a team with less experience, was able to win the first half because they had the ball and attacked better than Bangladesh. But Rahmat, Murad, Shakil Hossain, and Issa Faisal, who led Bangladesh’s defense, handled the risks well.
But in the second half, Bangladesh’s defense looked a bit tired, and Myanmar’s forwards got past both full-backs a few times. In the 67th minute, after Rabiul Hasan lost the ball in the middle of the field, substitute Khun Kyaw Zin Hein forced rookie Murad to deflect his low cross into the Bangladesh goal.
On September 21, Bangladesh will play their second match against India. China beat India 5-1 in the other match of the day.