U-19s draw against Jordan

Bangladesh revived their slim hopes of qualifying for the final round of AFC U-19 Championship with a 1-1 draw against Jordan in their second qualifying match at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Manama yesterday.

The boys in red and green, who started the campaign with a 3-0 defeat against Bahrain two days ago, will have to beat Bhutan by a big margin on Sunday while hoping other results in the group go their way, in order to qualify for the 16-team final round.

Despite playing with three changes from their first game including the goalkeeper and two forwards, Bangladesh did not make a great start in yesterday’s game, conceding the lead from a spot-kick in the stoppage time of the first half.

However, Andrew Peter Turner’s charges fought back to equalise in the 74th minute, with skipper Yeasin Arafat heading home Kazi Rahad Mia’s long throw-in.

The English coach made three attacking substitutions in the second half, but the youngsters failed to get another goal which would have catapulted them to joint second position.

As things stand, Bangladesh are in third position in the group with a single point, with Bahrain and Jordan occupying the top two spots, but a big win against Bhutan, arguably the weakest team of the group, could see them end as the second-best team, opening up a chance of qualifying.