Desk Report:
Cricket fans are hoping to see such a headline. Bangladesh will face Pakistan in the unwritten semi-final of the Asia Cup in Dubai today. Earlier, Bangladesh-Pakistan clash was also seen in the SAFF Under-17 Championship football. Bangladesh defeated Pakistan 2-0 to make it to the final.
In the first semi-final at the Racecourse Stadium in Colombo, Bangladesh scored two goals in the first four minutes. The first goal was scored by captain Nazmul Huda Faisal and the second goal came from the feet of Apu Rahman. However, Pakistani goalkeeper Samar Razzak must be given credit for both. His mistake made it easy for Bangladesh to score.
In the third minute, Apu received the ball extended by goalkeeper Samar Razzak in front of the box. He passed to Faisal on the left side. The Pakistani goalkeeper tried to control it forward but could not succeed. Faisal put Bangladesh ahead with a right-footed placing shot at the empty post.
Apu doubled the lead in the fourth minute. He received a ball from Mohammad Arif. His left-footed shot went over the heads of two defenders and the goalkeeper and into the net.
In the 10th minute, Pakistan’s Muhammad Abdullah’s head went off the sideline from a corner kick. Bangladesh made it 3-0 in the 13th minute. But before Faisal could celebrate the goal, the linesman raised the offside flag. Then Abdullah’s goal was also disallowed for offside.
In the 49th minute, Rifat Kazi’s great shot was cleared by the Pakistan goalkeeper in exchange for a corner kick. Faisal narrowly missed the ball in the 53rd minute.
Pakistan, desperate to score, tried to attack but could not find a way. It was difficult for their forwards to get into the box through Bangladesh’s offside trap. At the end of the day, Bangladesh left the field with the excitement of victory.
India will face Nepal in the second semi-final an hour later. The winner of this match will face Bangladesh in the final on September 27.
