Defeated, but not conquered

Bangladesh rose above their usual standards and displayed uncharacteristic valour their 2022 World Cup Qualifier match against Qatar before going down 2-0 to the Asian champions at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The scoreline may suggest a meek surrender but the actual story on a wet pitch was a different one as the men in red and green gave their much superior opponents a run for their money and a draw would not have been an outlandish result, given the competitiveness showed by the hosts.

The five changes to the starting eleven that was held to a disappointing draw by India in their last match was evidence enough of how eager Qatar were to correct course but they faced stiff resistance from Bangladesh, who formed two defensive lines to thwart Qatar’s attack on the rain-soaked pitch.

The game was expected to be played in Bangladesh’s half and that is how it panned out, but unexpectedly Bangladesh showed courage and wherewithal to attack on the break from the very beginning, causing hairy moments for a team ranked 125 places above them.

Nabib Newaj Jibon was presented a nice ball on the left flank in the fourth minute and the lone striker entered Qatar’s danger area before cutting it back for Mohammad Ibrahim, but the left winger could not hold the ball. Four minutes later, Jibon once again darted into the deep to put a low cross for Ibrahim but defender Boualem Khokukhi cleared it for a corner.

Qatar coach Felix Suarez had earlier expressed concerns over Bangladesh’s Raihan Hasan unleashing the long throw-in, and he wreaked havoc in the Qatar defence in the first half with seven such throw-ins, but the hosts could not capitalise.

Qatar striker Almoes Ali Abdullah, who struck a treble against Afghanistan, was given hardly any space. The prolific striker twice drove off target in the first half while defender Abdelkarim Hasan saw his shot sail over the far post in the 22nd minute.

In the 25th minute, Qatar almost struck their own post when Salam Al Hajri’s diagonal back pass to goalkeeper Saad Al Sheed was desperately parried away for a corner.

The scare survived, Qatar launched an attack through the right flank with Abdel Aziz whipping a cross inside the Bangladesh box and Yousuf Abdurisag making space and finding the back of the net with a curving shot in the 28th minute.

Not disheartened, Bangladesh then created two good chances, but to no avail. Yeasin’s flick off Raihan’s long throw-in was saved at the cost of a corner, before Jibon and Sohel Rana saw their successive attempts following a Jamal Bhuiyan corner thwarted by two goalline saves.

After resumption, the boys in red and green were more impressive than their Qatar counterparts, who were struggling on the slippery surface and Bangladesh created a couple more chances. Yeasin saw his header go straight to the goalkeeper in the 71st minute while Jamal’s powerful left-footer, with the goalkeeper not in the right position, was headed clear by defender Bassam Husham.   

Substitute Mahbubur Rahman Sufil saw his placing shot tipped over the crosspiece in the 75th minute, two minutes before Biplu Ahmed narrowly missed the target from inside the box off an Ibrahim cutback.

With only a minute of the three-minute added time left, Bangladesh conceded the second goal as the unmarked Karim Boudiaf sealed the win from a goal-mouth melee.

That did not prevent the hosts walking off with heads held high as the home crowd applauded a worthy and memorable effort.