Booters down & out in cold
Bangladesh suffered a 2-0 defeat against Kyrgyzstan in their World Cup qualifying fixture in Bishkek yesterday. The men in red and green, who had suffered a 3-1 defeat against the Central Asian nation in their home fixture back in June, went a goal down in the 27th minute before conceding the second a minute before the end of regulation time, on a cold night and in front of a full-house crowd at Bishkek's Spartak Stadium.
The defeat kept the charges of Fabio Lopez, who was guiding the team for the first time in an international fixture since taking over a month ago, at the bottom of Group B with a single point from five matches.
The match was a test for the newly appointed Italian, who had acquired a squad reduced by injuries and made weaker by the exorbitant weather in Bishkek. The 43-year-old Italian fielded a 4-5-1 formation, with skipper Mamunul Islam employed at the right wing and young striker Nabib Newaz Jibon as the lone centre-forward. However, there was precious little that these two could have done from an attacking perspective as the visitors had to defend deep against a much superior side, and they did reasonably well for most of the match, despite the odds. Winger Abdul Baten Komal played as left-back as the coach tinkered with the position of the players.
The visitors' resistance was broken in the 27th minute when Vitalij Lux, Nurnberg FC's second team forward, turned in a corner after a goalmouth scramble. Bangladesh held their own for most of the second half, with Lopez bringing on three changes. Jibon and Mamunul tested Matiash Pavel, but the Kyrgyzstan shotstopper made sure the visitors did not find a way back into the contest. And as the final whistle beckoned, substitute forward Ildar Amirov tucked in a rebound in the 89th minute to deal the knocking blow on the visitors' hopes of salvaging a draw.
Meanwhile Jordan extended their lead in this group to four points after a 3-0 win at home against Tajikistan, who will host Bangladesh on the next matchday, the 12th of November.
BANGLADESH: Shahidul Alam (Gk), Raihan Hassan, Topu Barman, Nasirul Islam (Rezaul Karim); Abdul Baten Komal, Hemanta Vinsent Biswas (Jewel Rana), Monaem Khan, Jamal Bhuyan; Mamunul Islam (C), Shakawat Hossain (Toklish Ahmed), Nabib Newaj
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