Big defeat for hockey team
The Bangladesh national hockey team got off to a frustrating start in their 9th AHF Asia Cup campaign, losing 0-9 against three-time champions South Korea at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia yesterday.
Bangladesh conceded four goals in the first half and five more goals in the second half, three of those coming in the last three minutes of the match.
Bangladesh took a very defensive approach from the beginning, pulling down the midfielders in the backline. The Koreans, who launched attacks one after the other, won nine penalty corners in the first half, converting only 2 of those and five more in the second half, converting two more. Goalkeeper Zahid Hossain had to be at his best to deny a number of attacks and penalty corners.
At 6-0 and into the last five minutes of the match, Bangladesh looked like pulling a goal or two back, but lack of control from strikers cost them as instead they conceded three more goals in the last three minutes.
Coach Naveed Alam said it is never easy to contain a team like South Korea and thinks a 6-0 defeat would have been far more ideal.
Bangladesh had lost by an identical margin against the Asian powerhouse in their last meeting in the 2009 Asia Cup.
“Our boys forgot their duty. The first 45 minutes was good from us even though we conceded four goals. But we lost in the last few minutes,” said Naveed adding that he was hopeful of winning today's match against Oman.
Bangladesh's match against Oman begins at 4:05pm Bangladesh time. Bangladesh had beaten Oman by 4-1 goals in the World Hockey League (Rd-2) match in February this year.
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