Draw sees Maldives, Bahrain through

The semifinal line-up of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup was confirmed after Maldives and Bahrain played out a 1-1 draw in the penultimate Group B fixture at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. The draw saw both sides through to the last four, with Maldives sealing the top spot and setting up the second semifinal against South Asian rivals Nepal while Bahrain were left with a face-off in the first semifinal against Bangladesh national team.

The match started brightly with Maldives showing more attacking intent, but the Red Snappers had their 'keeper Faisal Mohamed to thank for as the young custodian acrobatically kept out a viciously curling free-kick from Mohammad Alnaar in the 11th minute. Faisal's opposite number, Yusuf Alkatteb, however failed to follow his footsteps as the Bahrain goalkeeper's fumble led to the opening goal seven minutes later. The tall 'keeper made a meal of an innocuous looking attempt from Easa Ismail, fisting it right back inside the danger zone where Ibrahim Ansar's cross was turned in with a neat flick by Imaaz Ahmed.

Maldives ended the first half on the upper hand, but looked increasingly under pressure as the second half progressed. And the young Bahrain side, who came here with players aged between 19 and 20, were rewarded for their attacking intent, with the equaliser coming from a counterattack in the 58th minute. Substitute forward Abdulaziz Obaid turned on his heels and delivered a cross towards the box where Anwar Ali headed the ball into an open net, with the Maldives 'keeper stranded halfway down the pitch.

A few more attacking moves followed and the heat on the pitch rubbed on to the two dug-outs for a while, but as the clock ticked by, the urgency for a winner waned as both sides were happy to take a point and a place in the last four.