Hosts humbled by Syria
“David versus Goliath”. That is what Lodewijk de Kruif, coach of the Bangladesh under-23 team, had to say after his charges were handed a 4-0 drubbing by Syria in their Group E fixture of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
“It was a game of big boys versus school boys. They (Syria) are light-years ahead of us. We can't compete with teams like these and win in 100 years in our current condition if we continue this way,” said de Kruif during the post match press conference.
The gulf of difference between the two sides was apparent from the very first minute of the match as the strongly-built Syrians imposed their game on the hosts. The Syrian youths, who came here on the back of a couple of big wins against Indonesia and Kuwait, powered to a two-goal lead inside the first 14 minutes, thanks to two wonderful set-pieces.
Bangladesh, playing with a four-man backline and two midfielders in deep positions just ahead of the defence, struggled to stop the Syrian attackers and conceded three fouls outside the danger zone within the first 15 minutes.
The first goal came in the sixth minute after Omar Kharbin's mazy run was snapped outside the box by defender Yeasin Khan. The Syrian forward himself stepped up to take the free-kick and curled it over the wall, to the left side of Rasel Mahmud Liton, to give the 152nd ranked nation the lead.
Four minutes later, Syria defender Mouaiad Al Ajjan rattled the post from a 30-yard free kick before Mahmood Albaher nodded Ajjan's free-kick home to double the lead in the 14th minute.
De Kruif immediately sent on defender Shakil Ahmed in place of winger Yousuf Sifat to bolster the backline but it hardly helped in getting Syria out of the Bangladesh half.
The woodwork denied Syria once more in the 45th minute before defender Nahidul Islam handled the ball inside the box to concede a penalty right at the stroke of half time. Kharbin made no mistake from the spot as the West Asian side went with a comfortable 3-0 for the breather.
The visitors took the feet off the gas in the second half, yet managed to find a fourth goal in the 81st minute as substitute Mahmoud Almawas drove home from inside the box.
De Kruif felt his players had better organization in the second half than the first. “The players were very nervous in the first half and made mistakes which made the difference but they played well in the second half and the organisation was good,” opined the 45-year-old coach.
Syrian coach Muhannad Al Fakir was happy with three points in the bag. “We knew the strong and weak points of Bangladesh and exploited their weak points to come out successfully,” said Fakir.
Bangladesh will play their second match against Uzbekistan tomorrow while top-of-the-table Syria will take on India.
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