Jafar's heroics in vain

Despite a 2-0 victory over hosts Bhutan, Bangladesh had to be content with a runners-up finish in the SAFF U-18 Championship yesterday as Nepal retained the title with a similar margin of victory over India in the last match of the competition.

Bangladesh went into the decisive final day needing an outright victory over the hosts in the first match. Mahbub Hossain Roxy's charges did their part by beating the hosts, thanks to a brace from the tournament's eventual top-scorer Jafar Iqbal, moving to the top of the table temporarily and waiting with bated breath for a favourable outcome from the last match between Nepal and India.

The only outcome from that match to deny Bangladesh of a much-deserved title was a Nepal victory, and that is exactly what transpired at Thimphu's Changlimithang Stadium later in the day.

Having made an inspiring start to the competition with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory, Bangladesh looked on course to winning the age-level competition's title for the first time when they eased past Maldives 2-0 in their second match. But a shock 1-2 defeat against Nepal in their previous match made things tricky for them.

Both Bangladesh and Nepal ended up with nine points and same goal-difference, but Nepal, by dint of win over Bangladesh, emerged champions.

While Bangladesh did beat Bhutan 2-0, it didn't prove to be a simplistic task on the pitch as Bhutan's ultra-defensive tactics made it hard for the Bangladeshis to break the deadlock before Jafar came off the bench to strike twice late in the second half.

The men in red and green initially looked a bit nervous as they played a lot of miss-passes and lacked proper communication in the attacking third.

Mahabubur Rahman Sufil came close to breaking the deadlock in the third minute when he snatched the ball from a Bhutanese defender to enter the danger zone, but he was tackled down inside the box by a defender, which was however overlooked by the referee.

Mohammad Al-Amin squandered an opportunity in the 24th minute before Bangladesh survived a scare from Nima Tshering on the half-hour mark.

However, Bangladesh started the second half in more dominant fashion and with the arrival of Jafar, the complexion of the game changed completely. Bangladesh found the easiest chance of the match in the 63rd minute when Mahbubur darted into the box from the right side to deliver a diagonal ball for Saikat Mahmud Munna, who astonishingly drove wide. 

Bangladesh kept creating chances and Biplo Ahmed went close to scoring in the 71st minute, but the forward hit the ball straight at the Bhutan goalkeeper before Jafar showed his brilliant skills to open the scoring.

Availing a forward header from a teammate, the Chittagong Abahani forward ran down the right to enter the box before driving an angular shot past goalkeeper Karma Sonam in the 80th minute.  Three minutes later the prolific striker received a forward pass and danced past one defender from the left side and beat the Bhutan goalkeeper with another left-footed strike to raise his goal-tally to five from four matches.  

Bangladesh came close to increasing the margin in the stoppage time, but they were happy with a 2-0 victory. As soon as the final whistle went off, the Bangladesh players and officials indulged in celebration, only to find out later that they were outdone by a spirited effort from the Nepalese.