Bangladesh players like Hamza Chowdhury and Topu fought eye to eye against India in the Asian Cup qualifiers match held at Shillong, India on Tuesday evening. Bangladesh left the field with a goalless draw against the host.
Sheffield United footballer Hamza shone brightly in his debut match against India. He repeatedly thwarted India's attacks with lively football in the midfield and also assisted in the attack.
Hamza also kept Sunil Chhetri ineffective, who returned to the field after retirement, making India's attack useless.
India goalkeeper Vishal Kaith had a few nervy moments, but did not suffer a goal. Sunil Chhetri had a disappointing game, missing a couple of good chances.
Match Summary:
In less than 30 seconds into the match, Indian goalkeeper Vishal Bayet's mistake gave the ball to Mojibur Rahman Jony. But he couldn't successful and India survived in the first minute.
10 minutes later, the Indian goalkeeper made another mistake. This time, Mohammad Hridoy got the ball with that mistake. Bangladesh could not take advantage of the second chance.
India seemed to lose the trick in Bangladesh's attacking football at the beginning. Bangladesh, controlling around Hamza Chowdhury, started to play aggressively. Emon could not put the ball on target even after heading Morsalin's left-footed cross from the right.
India tried to get back into the match after overcoming this initial situation. Topu Barman left the field injured in the 22nd minute.
When Topu left the field on a stretcher due to pain, Rahmat Mia came on as a substitute. After Topu left the field, India slowly adopted the tricks of Bangladesh. In that sequence, Liston Colasso took a shot from the box in the 28th minute. However, Bangladesh goalkeeper Mitul Marma had no trouble stopping that shot.
India got a chance in the 30th minute from a counterattack. Udanta Singh's shot was blocked by Bangladesh's young defender Shakil Ahmed Topu. Faruk Haji took a shot from the box to return. However, Bangladesh goalkeeper Mitul Marma saved the team by taking possession of the ball in his second attempt. After that, both teams went into the break goalless.
Both teams showed disorganized performance after the break. In the end, neither team scored a goal and the match between India and Bangladesh ended in a 0-0 draw.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
