U-19s end on a high

Bangladesh ended their AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers campaign on a high, outclassing Sri Lanka 4-0 in their final group match at the Hisor Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan yesterday.

The win means Bangladesh finished third in Group B with seven points from four matches, with hosts Tajikistan clinching the direct spot for the finals by finishing top with 10 points following their victory over Uzbekistan in the day's second match.

Uzbekistan, with nine points, are likely to snatch one of the five best runners-up positions for the 16-team final round.

Bangladesh coach Mahbub Hossain Roxy brought three changes in his starting eleven by drafting in defender Riyadul Hasan, winger Rahim Uddin and forward Shaikat Mahmud in place of Atiquzzaman, Monir Hossain and Jafar Iqbal. 

With a target of recording a big-margin victory to keep their slim hopes of qualifying alive, Bangladesh came at their opponents strongly and scored four goals in the first half, but they failed to add any further goals after the break.

Bishwanath Ghosh broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when the right-back drove a rebound home after Mahbubur Rahman Sufil's powerful shot came off the post while Riyadul doubled the margin in the 33rd minute after nodding in a well-judged cross from Rahmat Mia from the left flank.

Sufil, who had scored a late winner against Maldives, widened the margin with a left-footed shot in the 38th minute before scoring the fourth in the stoppage time of the first half with a powerful shot following a lengthy exchange of passes among his teammates in the midfield.

While it seemed that Bangladesh would add a few more goals to their tally in the second half, the boys in red and green failed to find the target despite creating a lot of scoring chances.

“At the break, we tried to inspire the boys to score as many goals as they can, but the message did not work as the boys tried to perform individually and some seven scoring chances were wasted,” Roxy said over phone last night.

“As the forwards were wasting the chances one after another, I sent two fresh players – Jafar Iqbal and Faisal Ahmed Fahim – but they too squandered chances,” said the former national footballer.

Roxy, however, believes his team has achieved more than expected as they held strong Tajikistan to a draw and lost to Uzbekistan through an own goal while registering victories over Maldives and Sri Lanka.

“The boys played well in the SAFF Championship and the AFC Championship Qualifiers and they are the future of Bangladesh football. We need to take care of them and give them more space to play against strong teams instead of the South Asian opponents,” said Roxy.