Bangladesh beat Japan in Asia Cup warm-up
Bangladesh defeated Japan by 2-1 in their only warm-up match before Asia Cup hockey on Friday, though the performance of the home side in the 40-minute game left their coach Mahbub Harun unhappy.
Milon Hossain put Bangladesh ahead in the fifth minute of the game before Ashraful Islam converted a penalty corner in the 31st minute to double the lead – three minutes before Japan pulled one goal back.
While the win against a higher ranked side should have lifted Bangladesh’s confidence, coach Harun said his charges made too many mistakes to leave them susceptible.
‘Actually, we did not play according to the plan though we won the match,’ said Harun. ‘Our strategy was to keep good possession throughout the match but we did not do that.
‘There was lacking in the midfielder because of the absence of injured [Kamruzzaman] Rana as I played Pintoo as a midfielder. I think he will be fine during the matches of the tournament.’
The only thing that made the coach happy was the mental strength of the players.
‘Positive thing was that the boys showed their mental strength. They were determined about not to lose the match. They showed a fighting attitude.
Japan’s Dutch head coach Siegfried Aikman said they somehow failed to utilise the chances they created throughout the game.
‘I wanted to dominate the game with more possession and also get the result,’ he said.
‘We also dominated the game but did not get the result.’
Japan coach said they came here to finish the tournament in the fifth position, an improvement from their previous performance four years ago in Malaysia where they finished sixth.
Six teams among seven visiting sides have already arrived in Dhaka with Japan landing first on Saturday night before India, South Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, and China followed them on Sunday.
Oman is scheduled to land today morning.
-With New Age input
