Hosts finish bottom of group
Bangladesh finished bottom of Pool A after conceding a 1-3 defeat against Japan in their last group-phase match of the Hero Asia Cup at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Mahbub Harun's charges fought back from a goal down and raised hopes of earning their first points of the competition, but conceded two goals in the last two minutes to finish the group stages with no points. To their credit though, the hosts managed to score their only goal of the campaign in this game while conceding a grand total of 17 in three matches.
Having drawn a couple of times against Japan in the past, the hosts were expected to come up with a fighting performance, especially following their 2-1 win over the same side in a practice match, but the Men in Red and Green chose to adopt a counter-attacking strategy. Japan, however, enjoyed the lion's share of possession and came out with their first win of the campaign.
Having held Pakistan to a 2-2 draw in their previous match, Japan were full of confidence and created some good chances, earning nine penalty corners, but they failed to convert any of those, thanks to some fine saves from the Bangladesh defenders as well as goalkeeper Ashim Gope.
Japan twice came close to taking the lead early in the second quarter but a fine save from Ashim, and the woodwork, kept Japan at bay before Kenji Kitazato opened their account in the 22nd minute by beating Ashim with a fierce hit after entering the circle from the right flank.
Despite playing a lot of miss-passes in both defence and midfield, Bangladesh launched a few attacks and earned their first penalty corner of the tournament in the 28th minute. Mamunur Rahman Chayan, the veteran defender and penalty corner specialist, stepped up and made no mistake to level the margin. Bangladesh came close to taking the lead two minutes later, but Japan goalkeeper Shimmoto Sugure brilliantly blocked attempts from Roman Sarker and Mainul Islam.
Bangladesh could have fallen further behind had Ashim not valiantly blocked Yamada Shota's penalty stroke in the 39th minute before Bangladesh found two good chances. However, Naim's reverse-hit was blocked by the Japan goalkeeper while Koushik failed to muster a reverse-hit on the rebound.
As Bangladesh were hanging by a thread and defending desperately, Tanaka Kenta, arguably the best player for Japan, restored the lead with a solo effort in the 59th minute and wrapped up the victory in the final minute with a tap-in following a fumble from defender Reazul Karim Babu.
Coach Mahbub Harun said the habit of buckling under pressure cost them the match. “The boys could not get rid of the pressure in the dying moments and lost the match. We have worked a lot on how to overcome these last situations, we failed. The players lost their concentration in the dying moments and paid heavily for this,” said the veteran coach, who was dissatisfied with the overall performance of the team in the tournament.
Bangladesh will play against the third place finishers of Pool B – likely to be China – in a 5-8th place deciding match on Thursday.
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