Bangladesh earned a point from the 1-1 draw against Afghanistan in FIFA and Asian Cup joint qualifiers match in Qatar. This one point boosted the team's morale and they are now confident to secure points from the upcoming India match too.
Bangladesh will face India in their second match in Qatar. This match is important for Jamie day's team as they are still at the bottom of the table. They are at number five in group E with two points. If Bangladesh want to play in the AFC Asian Cup, points from the upcoming matches against India and Oman are very important for them. Considering Oman being the much superior side, Bangladesh will be eying the India match.
Defender Topu Bormon who scored the equaliser for Bangladesh against Afghanistan had something else to say. Not a point, but full 3 points is now team Bangladesh’s target.
“Our target is now to defeat India,” said Topu with the journalists, “Our coach told us not to be very happy about the last match’s result as we have more matches to play. We will work for the India match now. Coach told us to be attentive and serious about the match.”
Bangladesh earned a point from India in the first leg where they drew 1-1 in India. Although India is sitting at the 104th position in the FIFA ranking, 80 positions ahead of Bangladesh, the team is confident about replicating what they did in India’s own soil.
As it stands now, to play in AFC Asian Cup, Bangladesh have to get points in the upcoming games. However, points won’t ensure a direct qualification but give Bangladesh more matches to fight for a position in the next AFC.
Earlier, defender Topu Bormon’s staggering equaliser during the last minutes earned Bangladesh one point. After a goalless first half, Afghan Skipper Amiruddin Sharifi scored at 48 minutes piercing through Bangladesh’s solid first-half defensive performance. And then it seemed Afghanistan had the control and they were well on course to defend their lead.
However, coach Jaime subbed on Rimon Hossain and Mohammad Abdullah at 73 minutes. And suddenly the gameplay changed as Bangladesh started playing short passes which brought the expected result at 84th minute. Soon after Topu scored from Riadul Rafi’s assist, netizens flooded the social media with ‘Bangladesh Sergio Ramos’ chant for him.
However, Bangladesh could have bagged full three points if they had a bit of luck. One handball in the D-box by an Afghan player was not given a penalty which could make the difference in the match. Nevertheless, Bangladesh wants to put up their best performances in the coming matches.
The squad for the India match can remain the same with a small change in the defence. Midfielder Sohel Rana might miss the rest of the tour as he got injured during the Afghanistan match. Tareq Kazi might be a starter for his solid performance in his debut game. The match is scheduled to be played tomorrow at 8 pm Bangladesh time.
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