Maldives booked their place in the semifinal of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup while Bahrain kept their semifinal hopes with a narrow 1-0 win over Cambodia.
Maldives stormed into semifinal as the first team in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2016 from group B wining 2-0 over Bangladesh Olympic Team at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Maldives won their first match against Cambodia 3-2.
Maldives take the lead in the 15th minute with forward Easa Ismail sending a cracking right footer middle of Bangladesh Olympic net, Nshid Ahmed provided the cross from the left edge of the box.
Maldives strike the second goal in the 23rd minute. Easa Ismail ran down the left flank cut back to Imaaz Ahmed who coolly placed the ball into the left hand post of Ziaur Rahman.
BD Olympic came close to strike in the 67th minute, Rubel Mia produced a super footwork from the right flank, cleared the ball for Aminul Islam Sajib but lack of pace enables Maldives goalie Faisal Mohamed to grip the ball.
With this win, Maldives earned 6 points from two matches while BD Olympic team earned one point also from two matches.
Bahrain kept their semifinal hopes alive beating Cambodia by a solitary goal in the fourth Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
Bahrain captain Abdulaziz Alshaikh scored the match winning goal in the 11th minute from a header.
Abdulaziz Alshaikh who was adjudged man of the match, headed the ball from the middle of the box off a corner pass of midfielder Jasim Alshaikh from the right flank.
Cambodian could level the margin in the 57th minute as their substitute forward Vandeth Son took a shot from the left side of the six-yard box, but his left footer shot went out edging the right post.
Bahrain spoiled an opportunity to double the lead in the 51st minute. Forward Abdulaziz ran past the Cambodian defense and delivered a cut back to unmarked midfielder Ebrahim Almalood, coming from behind defender Pheng Hong’s timely interference to clear the ball from danger zone saved the Cambodian.
Cambodia again came close to score when Forward Dina Tit took a shot from left flank off a cross of midfielder Polroth Chreng which was saved by goalkeeper Mahbood Aldoseri diving at the right moment.
Bahrain will play their last group match against the Maldives on Saturday (January 16) in their next Group-B match while Cambodia to face Bangladesh Olympic team on the same day, both will be held at BNS.
Earlier, on Sunday (January 10), Bahrain played 1-1 against Bangladesh Olympic team at the Shams-Ul-Huda Stadium in Jessore while Cambodia started their tournament campaign with a 2-3 loss against the Maldives at the same venue on Monday (January 11).
