While returning to the dressing room on the back of a foreign coaching staff, defender Tariq Raihan Kazi, wearing a bandage on his left leg and a big smile on his face, could not have looked happier as Bangladesh kept their semi-final aspirations alive with a come-from-behind victory over Maldives in a crucial SAFF Championship encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru yesterday.
The key error that led to Lebanon’s 2-0 loss in the first match was committed by Tariq, who then handed Bangladesh the lead in the 67th minute after fit-again Rakib Hossain had cancelled out a goal scored by Hamza Mohamed 17 minutes earlier. Hamza Mohamed’s goal had been scored minutes before the half. After that, the promising Sheikh Morsalin sealed the victory in the final minutes of the SAFF Championship match against the islands with a goal. This victory was the first to come against them in 20 years.
Not only Tariq, who sustained a ligament damage by receiving an injury, but every player and official appeared joyful when they were embracing each other after a much-desired victory. Tariq’s injury caused damage to his ligaments. Later, as they were walking from the locker room to the team bus, they were accosted by a swarm of reporters and photographers.
The booters had consistently shown the propensity to crumble under pressure, as indicated by Bangladesh’s performances in the previous five editions of SAFF Championship, but the charges of Javier Cabrera this time around exhibited their strong mental side and strolled to win in the end.
The Spaniard’s choice to deploy four midfielders behind two strikers worked wonders, as Bangladesh seized total control of the midfield before hitting the second goal despite Maldives scoring first blood by breaking the stalemate against the flow of the play. Bangladesh’s goal came despite the fact that Maldives broke the deadlock against the run of the play.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh lacked composure and rhythm before to the commencement of the SAFF Championship, the booters seemed to shrug off the rusts by trusting their possession-based build-up game. Additionally, they were able to launch multiple premeditated assaults to keep their opponents on a tight leash throughout the encounter.
Rakib and Sohel Rana came dangerously close to posing a threat to the Maldives before the islanders grabbed the lead after what seemed to be an innocuous play from the left side. Bangladesh began applying intense pressure from the beginning of the match in an effort to take the lead.
Hamza Mohamed took advantage of a cutback and fired a powerful effort from the right side of the box, leaving the goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico powerless as he saw the ball brush up against the far post. Bangladesh experienced some frustration, but they immediately gathered themselves and maintained their dominance over the middle.
During the first half of the game, Bangladesh was awarded seven corners and numerous throw-ins. After a string of unsuccessful attempts with their typical long throw-ins, they were finally able to capitalize on one of their opportunities. In the 42nd minute, Sohel Rana, after collecting a short throw-in, delivered a cross for Tapu Barman, who shown awareness to head the ball at the far post, where an unmarked Rakib was ready to head the ball in from close range.
Rakib’s shot on goal was quickly blocked by the goalie for the Maldives in the 45th minute, and when play resumed, Cabrera threw in three sets of fresh legs to disturb the Maldives defense.
After seeing his first two attempts after a Mohammad Ibrahim corner denied by defenders, Tariq capitalized on a goal-mouth scrum to give his team the lead in the 67th minute with a header that gave them the advantage.
Soon after, Tariq suffered an injury that forced him to abandon the field, putting Bangladesh in a difficult position as they got closer to the dreaded finish line. Sheikh Morsalin, who came in as a substitute, scored a spectacular goal with his left foot inside the box in the 90th minute to give Bangladesh a two-goal lead. Despite the fact that Hamza hit Bangladesh’s crossbar in stoppage time, Bangladesh already had the match firmly in their grasp by that point.