Ugly win for booters

Defending champions Bangladesh moved into the semifinal of the football event in the 12th South Asian (SA) Games with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Nepal at the Sports Authority of India ground in Paltan Bazar, Assam yesterday.

Defender Raihan Hasan cancelled out a third-minute strike from Ananta Tamang in the 40th minute, before hitman Nabib Jewaj Jibon struck the winning goal in the 45th minute to help Bangladesh emerge as Group B champions.

The men in red and green will face hosts India in the semifinal tomorrow while Group B runners-up Nepal will take on Group A champions Maldives on the same day.

After a frustrating 1-1 draw against Bhutan in the opener, Bangladesh needed at least a draw to qualify for the last-four battle. However, although they notched up a win, they did so in unimpressive fashion, playing what could be best described as 'ugly football'. A journalist from All India Radio even questioned this reporter why the defending champions were resorting to playing in such a way.

Despite having nine senior players in the starting eleven, the booters appeared to have a lack of experience at this level as they were playing without purpose. Especially the backline -- which was marshalled by national players Raihan, Yeasin Khan and Tapu Barman alongside national discard Rezaul Karim -- cleared away the ball every time it came their way, instead of keeping possession and building the play from the back.

Not only that, the charges of Spanish coach Ganzalo Sanchez Moreno played misplaced passes till the last minute of the game, indicating a clear lack of confidence.

"I am happy with the result but not happy with our performance in the first half. We need to work more to improve. I don't like losing possession frequently. Good players should play like good players; I don't know why they panic. I would have liked to control the ball, but I must admit that the field was not good enough for crisp, passing football," said Moreno, adding that they must improve their performance in the next match if they want to reach the final.

Nepal took the early lead after Raihan unnecessarily handled the ball on the left-hand side of the box. Jagajeet Shrestha whipped in the resulting free-kick which was duly headed in by Ananta from close range.

After Bangladesh survived a few close-calls, Raihan made up for his error, side-volleying home from a Jibon cut-back in the 40th minute. Five minutes later, Jibon went from provider to scorer, smashing an angled shot home after some good interplay in the danger zone.

After resumption, Bangladesh exposed Nepal's backline on a few occasions, but Shahedul Alam, Jibon and Hemanta Vincent Biswas failed to beat Nepalese goalkeeper Alan Neupanne. Jamal then rattled the crossbar from a free-kick, while Rasel Mahmud Liton was forced into a brilliant save which kept Bangladesh's lead intact.