Bengaluru (25th June) - Bangladesh came from behind to beat Maldives 3-1 to revive hopes of gaining a spot in the semi-finals of the SAFF Championship 2023.
This is the first time since 2003 that Bangladesh won a match against Maldives in the SAFF Championship. This is also the second time in 20 years that Maldives has lost a senior game against Bangladesh. On both occasions, Italian Francesco Moriero was the head coach of Maldives.
Under Moriero, the Maldives won a friendly game against Bangladesh last year.
Bangladesh, who lost the first game against Lebanon, has revived hopes of a semifinal with today's win. Maldives, Bangladesh, and Lebanon are on three points in group B. Lebanon will play against Bhutan later today and can confirm a spot in the semifinals with a win.
Maldives started the game well and took the lead through Hamza “Hampu” Mohamed in the 17th minute. Hamza controlled a neat layoff from Ali “Sentey” Fasir and found the bottom corner of the net from a shot right at the edge of the box.
The tide of the game turned after 20 minutes, similar to Maldives' first game against Bhutan. Bangladesh started dominating the game and was constantly threatening the Maldives defense through long throw-ins and corner kicks.
Bangladesh’s effort paid off when Rakib Hussain’s header found the back of the net in the 42nd minute. Midfielder Sohel Rana’s cross into the box was headed across the goal by Topu Barman, and Rakib was free in the box to head the ball into the net.
Similar to the first half, Bangladesh was the better team, and they took the lead in the 67 minutes when defender Tariq Kazi’s scored. Maldives goalkeeper’s misjudgment on a corner kick led to a goal mouth scuffle, but Tariq made the decisive touch to beat the Maldives defenders on the goal line.
Bangladesh confirmed the victory in extra time when substitute Sheikh Morsalin finished a well-worked counter attack. Morsalin beat Maldives captain Samooh Ali from inside the box, and he beat goalkeeper Hussain on the near post to earn Bangladesh a well-deserved victory.
