Rodrigues steals semis berth for Abahani
A stoppage-time strike from Brazilian Francisco Rodrigues steered Abahani to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Uttar Baridhara Club in the fourth and final quarterfinal of Walton Federation Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
After sub-par performances in two group matches, Rodrigues finally shone in the quarterfinal to rescue Abahani with a powerful drive from inside the box after captain Nabib Newaj Jibon chested down a long ball from Afghan defender Masih Saighani.
That goal however was a result of a controversial move from Abahani. Abahani resumed the play without throwing the ball to the feet of Uttar Baridhara Club's players, who sent the ball outside following an injury of their own player on the ground. And Abahani eventually scored from that attack.
Following the goal, the match was halted for nearly three minutes and one Baridhara official was also sent off for his unauthorized entrance to the pitch.
"It was an injustice because Abahani did not follow the fair-play tradition and we also don't have anything to do with it because it is part of play," said Uttar Baridhara coach Jahidur Rahman Milon. "What will we learn from big teams like Abahani if they don't show respect on the ground?"
Referring to an AFC Cup encounter against Indian outfit Chennaiyin FC, Abahani coach denied existence of the fair play tradition.
"How many times they tried to consume time with the goalkeeper laying down on the floor? He did it six to seven times to waste time. If we speak about fair play, it doesn't exist. Fair play exists when you win the match. When you are losing, which team will give the ball back?" said Lemos.
"I felt Baridhara did everything to win but they also wasted a lot of time. We needed to win the match and wanted to play football but they did not come to play football. In the AFC Cup against Chennaiyin FC, we put the ball up for them and they killed us."
Back to the match, Abahani dominated throughout and created a few good chances but Uttar Baridhara goalkeeper Mamun Alif and the backline stood tall to frustrate the Sky Blues until Rodrigues scored the decisive goal.
Alif denied Jibon in the eighth minute before Masih Saighani saw his goal-bound header cleared from the goalline by defender Papan Singh in the 20th minute.
Uttar Baridhara tried to attack on the break. They came close in the 36th minute when national forward Suman Reza's dipping shot from 30 yards out went just inches over the Abahani crossbar. Egyptian defender Abdel Rahim again frustrated Jibon by stopping a goal-bound shot in the stoppage time of the first half.
After resumption, Abahani's Jewel Rana squandered an easy opportunity before Rodrigues rescued the Sky Blues in the stoppage-time.
Abahani will take on holders Bashundhara Kings on Thursday after Saif SC face Chattogram Abahani on Wednesday in the first semifinal.