U-18s fall to India at final hurdle
Bangladesh’s hopes of clinching a maiden title of the SAFF U-18 Championship were dashed after they fell to a 2-1 defeat to India in an ill-tempered final at the APF Stadium in Kathmandu yesterday.
The boys in red and green came back strongly into the match after conceding in the second minute, but a spate of indiscipline followed by a moment of petulance from their skipper eventually denied them of an elusive crown in the under-18 level of the South Asian region.
Both teams had come into the final looking for their maiden glory, having fallen victims to Nepal in the previous two editions. Hence both sides were desperate to not give an inch but the historic rivalry between the two footballing neighbours added spice to a match that lacked quality football.
India looked more adventurous in the early exchanges and caught the Bangladesh defence napping in the second minute, with Vikram Pratap Singh expertly dinking the ball over Bangladesh goalkeeper Shanto Kumar Ray following a quick move down the middle.
Bangladesh, who had held their neighbours to a goalless draw in the group stage with both teams having had identical results on the way to the final, looked ruffled and tried to impose their game on the opponents with a bit of physicality.
Captain Yeasin Arafat bundled down an Indian forward in front of the box in the 17th minute, earning himself a yellow card in the process. Goalkeeper Shanto bailed his side out from a precarious situation like he did on a few other occasions, but Mohammad Hridoy soon followed his skipper with a similar challenge, getting himself booked too. These two fouls were signs of indiscipline that dogged the game and the resultants bookings eventually had huge repercussions on the final outcome of the game.
Fahim Morshed fouled Vikram three minutes later and this time the Indian players snapped and a brawl broke out between the two sets of players, which eventually saw India defender Narender being shown a straight red card while Fahim received a yellow card. Incredibly the referee, after discussion with his assistants, showed a second yellow card to Hridoy, who was only trying to broker peace.
However, Bangladesh got their act together and launched a few meaningful attacks and were rewarded in the 38th minute when Yeasin tapped home Amir Hakim Bappi’s back-volley following a corner. What could have been a moment of celebration for the red and greens, though, turned out to be the cause of their downfall.
Yeasin, who had recently been called up to the senior squad as reward for his consistent performance as a Saif SC centre-back, let youthful exuberance get the better of his footballing sense.
In a show of bravado, the 18-year-old pulled his jersey over his head, leaving the referee with no option other than to produce a second yellow card.
India should have bossed the game with their numerical advantage, but Bangladesh channeled enormous resilience to keep the Young Blue Shirts at bay until a moment of brilliance from Ravi Pratap Rana in the first minute of stoppage time of the second half undid all that resilience.
The midfielder collected a throw-in some 25 yards from goal and took his time before unleashing a powerful curling shot into the far corner of the net, leaving Shanto helpless under the bar.
The Bangladesh players, exhausted from all the running, dropped to the ground and the Indian players celebrated by making rude gestures aimed towards the Bangladesh dugout. A feisty encounter ended in an ugly way, but India had all the reasons to celebrate.
Bangladesh coach Andrew Peter Turner was understandably disappointed by the result, but said he was proud of his charges.
“With nine men, they [Bangladesh] were absolutely fantastic. We looked comfortable and India didn’t look like they were going to score. I thought we were going to win the game even with nine men. I am proud of the players. The nation should be proud of the players,” Turner said after the match.
The Brit was as perplexed as anyone by the sending off of Hridoy. “The two red cards killed us. The first red card was a bit of a mystery to me because he [Hridoy] was not even involved. The other red card was a lesson learnt for Yeasin. If we were 10 against 10, we would have won the game,” Turner said.
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