Booters win final practice match
Bangladesh U-23 football team wrapped up their warm-up matches for the upcoming Asian Games with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Chodang University at the Mokpo International Training Centre in South Korea yesterday.
An emphatic win over an amateur side means Bangladesh U-23 team posted back-to-back wins in the last two matches after the senior side suffered a 2-0 defeat to a professional side, Gwangju FC, in their first practice match. The boys in red and green will leave for Indonesia on August 11 for Asian Games' football event, where they will play against Uzbekistan, Thailand and Qatar in group stages.
Following their win against Sehan University in the previous match, a win was quite expected against Chodang University, who however gave Bangladesh a run for their money in the first half before running out of steam. The visitors grabbed the opportunities with both hands to score two goals within four minutes to leave the field with heads held high.
According to a conversation with team manager Satyajit Das Rupu, Chodang University stunned Bangladesh in the 17th minute with a planned attack when Ui Chan Joung beat goalkeeper Ashraful Islam Rana with an angular shot from inside the box after availing a through-pass inside the danger zone.
The charges of Jamie Day tried to establish their authority in midfield and pressed hard, allowing Biplu Ahmed to snatch the ball from an opposition defender before equalising the margin in the 39th minute.
Chodang University looked tired after 75 minutes and substitute striker Matin Mia benefitted from a misunderstanding between the opposition goalkeeper and a defender to give Bangladesh the lead in the 78th minute. The promising forward then turned provider by playing one-two with Rabiul Hasan, with the latter completing the rout in the 81st minute.
“Though the opponents were a university side, they were good and they created some scoring chances but could not convert those due to our good defensive organisation,” explained Rupu. “However, they looked tired after 75 minutes and a fitter Bangladesh team had an advantage in this area.”
Rupu informed that the positive thing to come out of this tour is that the players have developed fighting tendency till the last minute.
The coach believes his charges are already on board and they just need to improve on their final passes and shots on target.
“I think it is a very tough group [Asian Games] with three national teams that are ranked far higher than us, so all I can ask for is the boys do their best in each game. If they perform to their maximum ability, then of course we will give ourselves a chance of getting a surprise result,” said Day.
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