Bangladesh’s hopes of qualifying for the main draw of the Asian World Cup qualifiers were dented severely on Saturday when they lost 0-4 to Lebanon in Beirut.
A last minute change in the team set-up contributed heavily to the huge defeat as Bangladesh were out of sort from the beginning and conceded two goals in each half.
Coach Nikola Ilievski changed the captain of the side dramatically before the game which had taken the players by surprise.
Bangladesh left home knowing that goalkeeper Biplab Bhattacharjee will lead the team, but the coach stripped him of the captaincy and at the same time dropped him from the starting line-up for the crucial game.
Ilievski offered defender Ariful Islam the chance to lead the side, but he refused. The coach later turned to defender Mohammad Sujon, who was making a comeback in the side after a three-year gap.
Sujon accepted the offer and took the armband in the game but his fellow players could not absorb the shock of losing their regular captain at the eleventh hour.
Maatouk put Lebanon ahead in the 16th minute before Mahmud El Ali doubled the margin in the 27th minute.
Two goals inside the first 20 minutes of the second half, scored by Al Saadi and Tarek El Ali, made it almost impossible for Bangladesh to overcome the deficit in the return leg, which will be held in Dhaka on July 28.
It was not clear why the coach opted for a change. He however did not like Biplob from the very beginning and tried to persuade Aminul Haque to come out of retirement to stand under the bar only to be refused.
Young goalkeeper Mamum Khan, who plays for Sheikh Russell KC in the Bangladesh League, kept the goal in place of Biplob, who did not concede a goal in the two legs of first round against Pakistan.
-With New Age input
