4-goal Barcos rocks the boat
The spotlight was firmly on Hernan Barcos and although fans were let down by a poor first impression from the former Albiceleste striker, but the 35-year-old striker ultimately stole the show with four effortless goals to give Bashundhara Kings a sparkling 5-1 win over TC Sports Club in the AFC Cup yesterday.
Captain Daniel Colindres struck the other to give Bashundhara an outstanding triumph against Maldivian opposition, who have had a dominant record against Bangladeshi clubs in the AFC Cup in recent years.
Barcos, who famously played alongside Lionel Messi for Argentina, initially failed to make an impact on the 5000-strong spectators who had been anticipating his debut since he signed in early February as he slipped a few times and misplaced passes during Bashundhara's maiden AFC Cup campaign yesterday. As the game wore on, he shrugged off the rust shrugged and showed emphatically why Bashundhara were willing to shell out nearly US$20,000 per month for 'the pirate'.
Bashundhara got off to a strong start with Barcos and Colindres up front but the duo drew frustration from the gallery by wasting a nice opportunity in the 10th minute. However, Barcos did not take much time to make amends, rising high and nodding home a Colindres lob from inside the six-yard box in the 18th minute.
That lead lasted only three minutes as defender Yeasin Khan committed a foul on Ali Ashfaq inside the box in the 21st minute. Easa Ismail stepped up and equalised from the rebound after Anisur Rahman Zico had rebuffed his strike from the spot.
Bashundhara continued to attack and Colindres saw a close-range shot hit the side-netting in the 23rd minute before Barcos restored the lead in the 26th minute with another effortless header after a well-judged lob from Biplu Ahmed.
Although Bashundhara's frontlines put up a dazzling performance, their defence was particularly poor, with centre-back Yeasin Khan and left-back Nurul Nayeem Faisal being exposed time and again. In one of those instances, Ishan Ibrahim danced past Nurul and Yeasin but saw his curled shot to the far post go narrowly wide, much to Zico's relief.
Bashundhara's Spanish coach, Oscar Bruzon, made one change in the second half, bringing Argentine holding midfielder Nicolas Delmote into defence in place of Yeasin, who was substituted for midfielder Alamgir Kabir Rana.
Australian referee Shaun Evans awarded an unexpected spot-kick to TC Sports in the 50th minute following an aerial tussle from a free-kick, but Zico rescued Bashundhara by stopping the penalty, which Easa had the privilege of taking twice.
Bashundhara received a penalty of their own in the 67th minute after Ahmed Farrah brought down Colindres on the goalline. The captain deferred duties to Barcos, who completed his hattrick before Colindres nodded home a well-judged cross from Biswanath Gosh in the 76th minute.
Barcos put a bow on the win, adding a fourth with a clever chip from the edge of the box over goalkeeper Hanif, who had advanced far off his line and, in an attempt to clear the ball, found the Argentine in stoppage time.
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