Shantoo pleased

Bangladesh striker Enamul Haq (L) is under pressure from Pakistan defender Shabir Khan during their SAFF Championship match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. The match ended in a goalless draw. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Despite having played a goalless draw against Pakistan, Bangladesh coach Shahidur Rahman Shantoo was not totally unhappy with the fact that they have come away with a point in a very crucial match.
He thought this outcome put Bangladesh in an advantageous position before the match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday who are already through to the last four.
"The match was very exciting. The opponents played a good game in line with their game plan. We could not play according to our own plans due to the nervousness of the midfield," said Shantoo.
He was however pleased with the outcome, "One point from this match is very vital as it puts us in prime position to qualify for semifinals. Things could have been worse if we lost the match."
Sri Lanka have qualified from this group with two victories in their two games while Bangladesh have four points to Pakistan's one from the same number of games.
The Bangladesh coach admitted that they were under intense pressure and had to defend hard in the second half especially as Pakistan went for an all-out attack, "Since our midfileders failed to carry out orders as planned, we switched to a defensive strategy in the second half, and came out with a point despite being dominated by Pakistan."
Shantoo however said they would rectify their mistakes in the next match against Sri Lanka to qualify for the semifinals.
Shantoo's counterpart George Kottan though was not satisfied with the refereeing and blamed some of the refereeing decisions for not winning the match. "Every thing went against us, everybody fought against us", said a livid Kottan.
However, the former Bangladesh coach believes that Pakistan are the strongest team in the tournament despite bagging only one point in their two matches.
TEAMS
BANGLADESH: Aminul Haq, Rajani Kanta Barman, Ariful Islam, Mamun Mia, Wali Faisal, Nasiruddin, Mamunul Islam, Pronotosh Kumar (Arman Aziz), Mehdi Hasan Ujjal (Zahed Parvez Chowdhury), Enamul Haq and Zahid Hasan Emily (Atiqur Rahman Mishu).
PAKISTAN: Muhammad Essa (Reis Ashraf), Amir Gul, Safiullah Khan (Jadeed Khan Pathan), Abdul Aziz, Arif Mehmood, Mohammad Shahid, Adan Faruque Ahmed, Amjad Iqbal, Atif Bashir Qureshi, Shabir Khan and Mahmood Ali.
Yellow cards: Rajani, Arif (Bangladesh), Adnan Farooq and Atif Bashir (Pakistan)
Referee: Al Hosni Ibrahim (Oman).
Result: Bangladesh 0 -0 Pakistan