Yesterday, Sheikh Morsalin scored an amazing goal that helped Bangladesh tie 1-1 with visiting Lebanon in a World Cup Qualifiers game at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka. This made him even more famous as the best young football player in Bangladesh.
Morsalin scored his fourth goal for Bangladesh in nine international games, giving them their first point in two games. Had the equaliser not happened, Javier Cabrera’s charges would have probably gone in the wrong direction after the guests broke the tie five minutes earlier because of a mistake on defence.
Bangladesh got back on track with Morsalin, who had a great chance to win with two minutes left. After Mohammad Sohel Rana set him up inside the box, the Bashundhara Kings forward scored into the side net with only the goalie to beat. Rana was one of Cabrera’s four changes, along with Morsalin, because Rakib Hossain and Saad Uddin were suspended.
There was some question before the game about whether the men in red and green could get back to the form they’ve shown over the last six months, after losing 7-0 to Australia in their first World Cup Qualifiers game. At first, Cabrera’s team looked nervous playing against Lebanon, who were much better, but as the game went on, they gained confidence in front of a loud crowd.
Lebanon may have had more of the ball in the first half, but Bangladesh made more chances than the team ranked 79 places higher after they fought off early pressure. All of Lebanon’s shots in the first half missed because they had to come from far away.
Bangladesh’s best chance came in the 45th minute, when Faisal Ahmed Fahim sent Morsalin a low cross from the left wing. Morsalin took a shot from inside the six-yard box, but it went over the goalpost.
Later, the home team lost when usual custodian Mitul Marma got hurt and had to be replaced by Mehedi Hasan Srabon. Srabon had some rough moments under the post as Lebanon pressed hard at the start of the second half.
This made the game more end-to-end, which put pressure on the Bangladesh defenders and led to the first goal in the 68th minute.
Srabon, the rookie goalie, had a terrible night under the lights because he lost the ball while players failed to clear it. Majed Osman, a substitute, finally scored, putting the ball in from close range to quiet the home fans.
After five minutes, Fahim sent a forward pass to Morsalin, who ran to the edge of the box from the right side and fired a strong but very accurate shot to bring Bangladesh back into the game.
Lebanon also started a huge attack to take back the lead, but Bangladesh stayed firm and denied the stronger opponents all three points.
Even though the game ended in a tie, it was a huge win for Bangladesh, who showed great fighting spirit and their best player, who became famous during the SAFF Championship by scoring against Maldives and Bhutan and then scored a goal against Afghanistan in a FIFA friendly.
On the other hand, Morsalin was suspended by his club, Bashundhara Kings, because he was drunk on the way back from the Maldives after an AFC Cup game. Because of this, he missed the pre-qualifiers against Maldives. His current run under pressure will do great things for his development.