The Bangladesh national football team toiled hard before overcoming the Thailand Under-19 national team 1-0 at the Osotspa Stadium in Thailand on Saturday. Forward Sakhawat Hossain Rony bagged the winning goal in the 73rd minute after coming on as a substitute.
Bangladesh took part in two practice matches during their tour of Thailand as part of their preparation for the forthcoming SAFF Football Championship, which will get underway on September 1.
In the first practice match, Bangladesh fell to a 2-1 defeat against Thai club Osotspa Saraburi.
According to information sent from Thailand by Ashikur Rahman, media manager of the Bangladesh national team, Bangladesh dominated proceedings throughout the entire match but had to wait till the last quarter of the game to grab the match-winning goal.
National team’s Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif played Zahid Hasan Ameli and Wahed Ahmed as strikers in his starting XI but they failed to get on the scoresheet, like the first practice match against Osotspa.
The visiting Bangladesh side got their first opportunity in the first minute when a powerful shot by Toklis Ahmed was deflected off an opposition defender.
The travelling side got another golden chance to open the scoring in the 14th minute when midfielder-cum-captain Mamunul Islam saw his curling effort narrowly miss the target before brushing off the goal-post.
In the 26th minute, the hosts got their first chance from a corner but Chirimawa’s header was comfortably saved by Bangladesh goal-keeper Shahidul Islam Sohel.
After resumption, Bangladesh again came close to breaking the deadlock when Ameli’s long-range attempt in the 54th minute barely missed the post.
Rony, who replaced Wahed, finally settled the jitters of the visitors in the 73rd minute when Ameli provided a through pass and he made no mistake as he notched his second goal of the Thai tour.
Though the national side recorded a win in their second practice game, De Kruif was still concerned with his forward line.
‘Our boys played a good match today. Ball possession was good, so was the man-to-man marking. Technically we played good today. However, the problem still remains with the finishing. Otherwise, it could easily have been five or six goals for our players,’ said De Kruif after the match on Saturday.
-With New Age input
