Bahrain reached the final of the 4th Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament shocking hosts Bangladesh national team by a solitary goal in the first semifinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Monday.
The touring Bahrain team will play the final of the eight-team prestigious meet on Friday against the winner of the 2nd semifinal between Nepal and the Maldives, who will meet each other on Tuesday
In the first semifinal, midfielder Ebrahim Alhooti scored the match-winning goal for Bahrain in the stopgap time of the first half by a cool header from goalmouth melee capitalizing on a faulty clearance by Bangladesh goalie Shahidul Alam (1-0).
In the 24th minute, Bangladesh midfielder Hemanta Vincent Biswas danced down the right flank to provide a neat cut back through the Bahrain defence, but forward Sakhawat Hossain Rony and Mithun Chowdhury missed the ball line.
In the 41st minute, Bahrain forward Anwar Ali’s left footed free kick was fisted out for corner by Bangladeshi goalie Shahidul Alam.
Bangladesh started the second half with pressing football and created some opportunities. In the 51st minute, Bangladesh forward Mithun Chowdhury delivered a close-ranged low cross from left flank and Sakhawat Hossain Rony connected the ball by a diving low header from the top of the six-yard box, but was unfortunate as the ball bounced back from the lower portion of the left post which was cleared by the Bahrain goalie.
Bahrain reached the semifinal as Group-B runners-up bagging five points from three matches with one win and two draws.
Bahrain beat Cambodia by 1-0, played 1-1 against the Maldives while drew with Bangladesh Olympic team also by 1-1.
Bangladesh confirmed their semifinal berth as the Group-A champion securing six points from three matches with one win and two draws.
Bangladesh crushed Sri Lanka by 4-2 goals, played 1-1 against Malaysia while finished the group battles with a goalless draw against Nepal, according to a news agency.
Photo Credits – bdnews24.com
