The score line maybe 2-0, but whoever has seen the match would know Bangladesh could easily be on the other side of the result.
In the end the men in red and green lost to the much stronger and higher ranked Lebanon in their SAFF encounter on Thursday at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru with many regrets and agonies.
The biggest regret came from Tariq Kazi, the Finland-born defender.
During the 79th minute he made a horrible blunder giving the ball away to Lebanese player Karim in a free space. That was like a windfall for Lebanon, who struggled to breach Bangladesh defence throughout the match, and he Karim cool enough in the 2 versus 1 situation to pass the ball to skipper Hassan Maatouk who placed the ball in the net behind hapless goalkeeper Anisur Rahman and break the deadlock.
All the Bangladeshi players, who had been fighting toe to toe throughout the match, dropped their shoulders as they straightaway realised the Déjà vu occurred. In the end, Lebanon could score another goal in the 96th minute through Khalil Badar to increase the agony of Bangladeshi players and fans.
Initially it seemed the match would be one-way. Lebanon, the 99th ranked side, is the highest ranked side in the eight-team tournament but the charges of Javier Fernández Cabrera did not let them dominate in the first half. After a stalemate in the first half the coach made three changes putting in Hridoy, Morsalin and Rabiul in place of Jamal Bhuiyan, Mujibur Rahman and Suman Reza.
The changes invigorated the side and they started creating some chances. Foysal Ahmed got the best chance in the whole match in the 60th minute when he received a long pass from Morsalin but failed to convert from a one-on-one situation against the goalkeeper. The Lebanese custodian did not have to do much as Foysal took the shot straight to his body, squandering the opportunity and perhaps the match which could be historical for his side.
Even after the debacle, Bangladeshi players kept up the tempo and controlled the ball but Lebanon got the goal against the run of play. Bangladesh were desperate to euqlise but that created a gap in their defence and Badar scored an easy goal from counter attack in the dying moments of the game.
Thus finished another match where the Bangladesh side played well but lost due to silly mistake, a most recurrent theme of the side over the years.
Bangladesh will play their next game against Maldives on Sunday.