A shambolic start
All the pre-tournament talk of resolve and redemption from the Bangladesh players came to nothing as they made a shambolic start to their SAFF Suzuki Cup campaign, a phenomenon becoming all-too-familiar in recent times, going down against defending champions Afghanistan 4-0 at the Sports Hub of Trivandrum yesterday.
The men in green, who made a group stage exit in the last edition, looked like a side far below in quality and composure against a side they had never lost to previously.
The defeat not only stretched Bangladesh's winless streak in the championship to eight matches, but more worryingly pushed them to the bottom of Group B after Matchday 1, with a goal difference of -3. Maldives' 3-1 win over Bhutan in the day's opening match saw the island nation occupy the second position .
That the Lions of Khorasan are a far-improved side than they were a decade ago is an open secret. That they have been blessed in recent years with an influx of quality players from European lower leagues is also well-documented. However, this is the same Afghanistan side, or perhaps with a few changes in personnel and a new high-profile coach in charge, who only escaped defeat against Bangladesh in a friendly match in June this year. But the way the game panned out yesterday made everyone realise how far the Afghans have improved and to what depths their beleaguered opponents have plummeted.
There was everything present in the Afghans' game that Peter Segrt could ask for – threatening wingplay, the ability to win and control possession and calmness in finishing –all of which were strikingly absent among Maruful Haque's charges.
The more-than-60 percent possession enjoyed by the Afghans or the more than four times shots on goal taken by their strikers is perhaps an understatement of the dominance by the defending champions. On the other hand, all that the Bangladesh team could create were three half-chances, two of which fell to centre-forward Shakhawat Hossain Rony and one to midfielder Sohel Rana. Needless to say those chances never came close to being cashed in. The rest of it was a tale of missed passes, lost possession in the midfield, nervous defending and a hapless Shahidul Alam trying to keep the defeat to a respectable level.
After the first 20 minutes which was the only even passage of play, and during which Shakhawat failed to beat the opposition goalkeeper after a rare howler in Afghan defence, the Lions kept growing in stature as Bangladesh's started looking nervous and mistakes started creeping in.
Masih Saighani's 30th minute strike opened the floodgates, with Faysal Shayesteh neatly turning in a cross before Zubayr Amiri, the man who created the first two goals, took the match out of Bangladesh's reach with a toe-poke over Shahidul in the 40th minute. The Bangladesh keeper did his best to keep the margin to keep out a number of attempts, but failed to stop a rebound in the 70th minute as substitute striker Khaibar Amani joined the goalfest.
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