Before Bangladesh right-back Bishwanath Ghosh took the field for the warm-up session at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru ahead of the SAFF Championship semifinal match against Kuwait, he made the announcement that he would distribute Tk 5 lakh among his teammates as a bonus if they were able to make it to the final for the first time in 18 years.
This announcement came before the SAFF Championship semifinal match against Kuwait.
The defender’s declaration was meant to fire up and excite his colleagues against a powerful Kuwait squad, and Bangladesh showed their grit throughout the play, even as the game stretched into extra-time. Bangladesh won the match. However, the hearts of Bangladeshi fans were finally broken as Kuwait scored the game-winning goal in the final seconds of the first half of extra time after normal time finished scoreless.
Bishwanath, who was exceptional throughout the match, would have been among the happiest if he had been required to distribute that huge extra from his pocket, but he, along with the likes of Rakib Hossain, Suman Reza, Rabiul Hasan, and Mohammad Ibrahim, had no option but to break down into tears as the final whistle blew.
As a result of the disappointment, the players and officials from both teams got into a skirmish, which was centered on a dialogue between Kuwait’s Mahdi Dashit and Bangladesh’s Tariq Raihan Kazi. As a direct result of the altercation, the Bangladesh team manager Amer Khan was shown a red card by the Indian referee John Crystal.
During the time when the defeated booters were walking off the field with sorrowful hearts, the fans in India were clapping and cheering for the Bangladeshi players because of their valiant effort. The guys in red and green gave the Bangladeshi players rounds of applause in return.
“We always returned home with consolation [prizes], but this time we had a big dream,” Bishwanath said as the squad was walking to the bus to go back to the hotel. We never failed to reassure our fellow players that if we maintained our trust in one another, we would be able to overcome the obstacle posed by Kuwait. However, the wind was not on our side. In addition to that, the referee made numerous judgments that went against us.
Only one remark could come out of Tariq Kazi’s mouth at any given time: “Nothing to say at the moment.”
Sheikh Morsalin, who blew the simplest opportunity of the match in the second minute, continued by saying, “There was a wonderful opportunity to make history but we were unable to do it.” We turned up a strong effort and generated opportunities, but bad luck prevented us from winning. Please pray for us so that we may become more successful in the days ahead.
Tapu Barman put it plainly when he said, “The referee killed us, we don’t have anything else to say,”
In response to a question regarding the officiating, the head coach, Javier Cabrera, said, “We are not surprised by what happened.” Throughout the competition, we have seen this phenomenon. This is exactly what we were anticipating to happen, and it did.”