A clueless Bangladesh team received a battering in their opening match in SAFF Suzuki Cup as holders Afghanistan crushed the men in green 4-0 at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala on Thursday.
The defeat, Bangladesh’s heaviest in the regional meet, prolonged their winless streak in the regional championship to eight dating back from 2009.
Bangladesh’s previous biggest defeat in SAFF came in the inaugural event in 1997 when they lost to India by 3-0 in Kathmandu.
This was also their first ever loss to Afghanistan in an official contest after they managed two wins and three draws in the previous five meetings at national and under-23 level.
Masih Sajghani, Faysal Shayesteh, Zubayr Amiri sealed the deal in the first half to put Afghanistan ahead by 3-0 before substitute striker Khaibar Amani completed the misery in the second half .
Afghanistan, who are 32 places ahead against 182nd ranked Bangladesh, dominated the match right from the word go and the charges of Maruful Haque had no answer to their tactical acumen.
Bangladesh’s only clear chance came as early as in the sixth minute when a defensive blunder of Afghanistan put Shakhwat Hossain close to scoring.
But the striker was late to respond to his chance allowing Afghan goalkeeper Ovays Azizi to clear the ball.
Yeamin Munna made a great clearance in the 18th minute when Amiri dazzled past his marker and also dodged the onrushing goalkeeper Shahidul Islam to make an attempt for a goal.
Munna chested down the ball to avoid the danger momentarily, but Bangladesh could not prevent Afghanistan from scoring for too long.
After wasting some clear chances Afghanistan finally broke the deadlock in the 31st minute through a fine header from Masih, Hassan Amin’s corner kick met Zubayr on the edge of the box and he headed the ball to Masih, who outjumped his marker to put Afghanistan 1-0 ahead.
Forward Faysal Shayesteh made it 2-0 just a minute later when Zubayr provided a square pass to the unmarked Afghan skipper, who lobbed the ball past Bangladesh keeper.
Zubayr Amiri joined the goal fest in the 42nd minute when Mustafa set the ball for the speedy Amiri who broke into the box before placing ball home.
The game was ended as a contest when Khaibar Amani put the last nail on the coffin in the 69th minute to help Afghanistan return with a comprehensive win.
Bangladesh will face Maldives on Saturday in their next match, what has now turned out to be a must win contest for them. The islanders defeated Bhutan 3-1earlier in the day in their opening match.
RESULT
Afghanistan 4 (Masih Sajghani 31, Faysal Shayesteh 32, Zubayr Amiri 42, Khaibar Amani 69) v Bangladesh 0
Source: New Age