'A good sign for Bangladesh football'

Having completed their job by handing hosts Bhutan a 2-0 defeat, the boys in red and green sat in the gallery on Wednesday night and watched the final group match between India and Nepal in a relived mood. They had one hand on the SAFF U-18 Championship trophy and all they required was a result to go in favour of the mighty India.

But they began squirming in their seats just three minutes into the game as Dinesh Henjan gave Nepal the lead. And their heads dropped as the match progressed with India failing to replicate the performance that they had put up previously against Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.

The Bangladesh U-18s all but gave up their hopes of being crowned for the first time after Henjan doubled the margin in the 37th minute and Nepal kept the 2-0 margin intact till the final whistle to retain the title by virtue of a better head-to-head record against Bangladesh, forcing the latter to be content with a second-place finish despite both teams having nine points.

"The boys were cheerful after beating Bhutan, but they felt disappointment after Nepal beat India, who yesterday [Wednesday] did not look as serious as they did against other opponents. We could not understand why India could not perform, but Nepal also played a good match keeping in mind that they had a chance to win the title," said coach Mahabub Hossain Roxy over phone yesterday.

"However, the boys realised that the only their own merit could deliver the title rather than depending on the outcome of other ties," said Roxy. "They also realised that the defeat against Nepal was non-repairable damage."

Roxy's charges had to be content with the runners-up medals, but they regretted the lack of a trophy for the runners-up, which could have served as a memory for the boys.

Apparently the boys had no celebrations upon returning to their hotel despite becoming runners-up, which is no mean feat considering the current state of the country's football.

However, they had a brief celebration to mark unheralded striker Jafar Iqbal's birthday, who came from the bench in the second half to strike a brace against Bhutan and finish on top of the scorer's chart with five goals from four matches.

"After dinner, Jafar's birthday celebration began by cutting a cake and the boys stayed there for while and listened to songs before going back to bed because they were upset at not lifting the championship despite playing good football throughout the tournament," said the former footballer.

However, Jafar was unhappy in spite of claiming the golden boot.

"I would have been happier had we won the championship; that would have been the best birthday gift for me," said Jafar, adding that although they thought India would deliver their best against Nepal, their neighbours did not seem to give their full effort.

Becoming runners-up is also a big achievement for coach Roxy, who had no clear idea about the strength of his side before departing for Thimphu to take part in the five-team tournament. The former national midfielder is now in an upbeat mood and hoping to produce a good result in the upcoming AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers in Tajikistan.

"Bangladesh had produced good results in age-level tournaments when we played football. But we have not been getting results for a long time at the age-level. However, it seems the country has again started to get results at age-level tournaments as evidenced by the Bangladesh U-16 women's team, U-15 boy's team and U-18s' results at international level and it is a good sign for Bangladesh football," concluded Roxy.