Bangladesh's hopes of playing in the second round of the Asian Games football event ended in a misery when the U-23 side suffered their third consecutive defeat in a 4-1 loss to Hong Kong in their Group E final match at the Haudu Stadium in Guangzhou yesterday.
With two wins and one draw, Hong Kong moved into the 16-team second round for the first time in 52 years though they finished behind group champions United Arab Emirates, both having seven points each, who thrashed former champions Uzbekistan 3-0 in the day's other match. Uzbekistan finished third having three points from as many matches while Bangladesh returned empty handed having conceded 10 goals in three matches.
After suffering identical 3-0 defeats against Uzbekistan and UAE, Bangladesh were dreaming of upsetting Hong Kong to restore some pride. But that dream was far from reality as Bangladesh went down in the very second minute with Au Yeung Yin Chung putting Hong Kong ahead availing the defence laps.
Bangladesh, who did not score in previous two games, brought some excitement back in the game after 24 minutes when star striker Enamul Haq levelled the margin. The Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club striker did not make mistake to drive home when a clearance off a Mamunul Islam freekick came his way inside the box though his drive found the back of the net with a deflection off a Hong Kong defender, according to a BFF website news.
However, Bangladesh could not hold off their opponents for more than nine minutes as Chung again gave Hong Kong advantage in the 33rd minute capitalising on another mistake from Bangladesh defender. This time Wali Faisal was the culprit as he tried to tackle Hung Ting and Chung fired a left-footer home from close.
Hong Kong almost made the result safe four minutes from the break as Ju Ying Zhi curved a shot to beat goalkeeper Aminul Haq and made it 3-1.
After resumption, Bangladesh brought in three changes sending Shakil Ahmed, Mithun Chowdhury and Mintu Sheikh on, but the change failed to make any impact on the game. Even Bangladesh conceded the fourth goal in the 87th minute with Chan Man Fai sealing the fate of the game and took Hong Kong into the second round.
"Hong Kong played better than our expectation as they were so quick and ran a lot throughout the game," said Bangladesh's Croat coach Robert Rubcic after the game.
Rubcic said that his charges played comparatively well than the match against UAE
but blamed the defensive errors for the margin of defeat.
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Aminul Haque, Nasiruddin, Wali Faisal, Ariful Islam, Rezaul Karim Atiqur Rahman Meshu (Mintu Sheikh), Zahid Hossain, Mamunul Islam, Enamul Haq (Shakil Ahmed), Mamun Mia, Abdul Baten Komol (Mithun Chowdhury).