BD U-23s lose to Kuwait

Bangladesh Under-23 team's bid to qualify for the finals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers got off to a disappointing start as the Men in Red and Green suffered a 1-0 defeat to Kuwait in Group D encounter at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent yesterday.

Youssef Alrasheedi separated both sides in 19th minute from a counter-attack in which goalkeeper Pappu Hossain failed to intervene a long ball as Alrasheedi managed to calmly send the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to take Kuwait on top of the four-team group after hosts Uzbekistan played out a 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia.

Before departing for Uzbekistan, head coach Maruful Haque had hoped to make up for the difference in individual skills of the opponents by executing a collective effort but yesterday, his charges were far from implementing his desired game plan and instead, were busy throughout the match to prevent Kuwaiti onslaughts.

Except for some brief moments on either side of the interval, the game was largely played in and around Bangladesh's area with Maruful having deployed five midfielders ahead of the four-man backline.

Eventually the margin of defeat was narrowed, courtesy of Pappu who rescued Bangladesh by spoiling several close-range attempts from Kuwait, including denying Rashidi's spot-kick attempt two minutes before conceding the decisive goal.

Bangladesh will play their second match against Uzbekistan on Saturday.