Bangladesh reach semifinal in style

Bangladesh finally broke the jinx as they reached the semifinal of the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship after fourteen years as they came from behind beat Bhutan by 3-1 goals in their last group B encounter held Wednesday at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India.

After 2009, Bangladesh could not reach the semifinal of the SAFF Championship.

Bangladesh will now face group A champions Kuwait in the first semifinal scheduled to be held on Saturday (July 1) at the same venue at 4 pm (BST).

Group B champions Lebanon, who beat the Maldives by 1-0 earlier in the day's match, will take on Group A runners-up host India in the second semifinal also to be held on the same day at 8 pm (BST).

Coach Javier Cabrera made two changes as his charges take on Bhutan in the last group stage with Rahmat Mia replacing injured defender Tariq Kazi while Sheikh Morsalin replaced Faisal Ahmed Fahim.

In the proceeding, Tsenda Dorji gave Bhutan a lead early in the 12th minute with a well-judge shot from outside the box, four minutes before Phuntsho Jigme's powerful shot returned to play after hitting the crossbar.

But midfielder Sheikh Morsalin, who is playing for the first time in the best eleven in this match, brought back Bangladesh in the match with an impressive long-ranger in the 21st minute.

Bangladesh went 2-1 up through a suicidal goal by Phuntsho Jigme in the 30th minute while Rakib Hossain made the score line 3-1 in the 36th with an eye-catching shot from zero-degree angles that found the net after hitting the side post.

Back with a healthy 3-0 lead, Bangladesh continued their onslaught in the second half but could not increase the margin further.

Bhutan also tried heart and soul and created several scoring chances but under the leadership of Tapu Burman, Bangladesh's defence handled well in the second half. Bangladesh coach Javier made four changes in the second half. Skipper Jamal Bhuyan was taken off after the first half in the last two matches but today he played the entire match.

Bangladesh dominated throughout the proceeding and notched their deserving victory on the day while Bhutan played good brand football in the first twenty minutes, but failed to keep the tempo in the remaining proceeding.

Earlier, Bangladesh suffered a 2-0 goal defeat to superior Lebanon in their group opening match but bounced to register a 3-1 goal victory over Maldives n their second match of the tournament.

/KN/