Poor refereeing and lack of concentration were at fault for Bangladesh Under-23s’ 0-1 defeat against Nepal in their second friendly match in Sylhet, said skipper Mamunul Islam on Sunday. More than 40,000 spectators watched the game at the Sylhet district stadium and many of them took their seat in the ground close to the touchline after being unable to find a place in the gallery.
The match was delayed by an hour due to the unexpected crowd presence, and neither the Bangladesh Football Federation nor the local organsiers were prepared for it.
Mamunul said it was clearly a distraction for the home side, who were convinced the match was not possible to be started amid this pandemonium.
‘When we saw the situation, we were convinced there will be no game,’ Mamunul told reporters. ‘We were talking to ourselves and perhaps this was the reason we lost our concentration.’
Bangladesh U-23s went into the game on a back of a win in their first friendly in Dhaka, but Nepal were clearly the better side in the second match in Sylhet.
Unable to find any rhythm, Bangladesh’s players were often seen arguing with the referee, something which was never appreciated by the fans.
Mamunul said they had no choice but to protest as the referee often whistled against the home side.
‘Every team wants to take some home advantage. But we did not get any advantage. Rather the referee often blew whistle against us. He pointed out offside calls several times when there was no offside,’ said Mamunul.
‘The referee also denied us of a legitimate goal. Sohel’s shot hit the post and crossed the goal-line but the referee did not give us the goal,’ said the midfielder.
Bangladesh resumed their training at the BKSP on Sunday ahead of the Asian Games where they will play against Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and Afghanistan.
-With New Age input
