Bangladesh U-23 football team returned home with a bitter experiences after suffering defeats in their both the friendlies against Bahrain when they went down to the host by 2-4 in the second match following 1-0 in the first match.
Bangladesh, who are in Bahrain for their practice played two friendly matches, as part of their preparations for upcoming AFC U-23 qualifying round matches in Vietnam, beaten by their higher ranked Bahrain counterparts. Bangladesh suffered by 1-0 in the first match but in the second match despite leading the first half by 2-1, could not deal with the the strong coming back of the hosts, who secured victory with scoring four goals in the second half.
The friendly matches between Bangladesh and Bahrain teams has been recognized as a FIFA Tier-2 match. Both the matches of two teams were closed door, so the results were not not announced officially.
The Bangladesh U-23 football team played the two friendly matches against Bahrain as a part of preparation for their next month Asian Cup qualifiers in Vietnam.
Bangladesh have been undergoing a 12-day training camp in Bahrain from August 14 ahead of their qualifiers campaign and returned home on Saturday.
Bangladesh will play Group C against hosts Vietnam on September 3, before facing Yemen and Singapore on September 6 and 9, respectively, in the qualifiers.
Atiqur Rahman Mishu, deputy of head coach Saiful Bari Titu opined on Saturday when he said, "We've prepared well for Vietnam by playing two matches in Bahrain."
"There are 24 players in the camp now. All of them have got time to play matches.” The Bangladesh U-23 team is scheduled to return to Dhaka from Bahrain today. The players will practice for a few days in Dhaka and then leave for Vietnam. Cuba Mitchell and Fahmidul are scheduled to arrive in Vietnam from Dhaka.
“We came to Bahrain with a target of playing two preparation matches……. we have been able to test these players’ capability in two matches because all twenty four players were given the chance to play,” Meshu said through a video message.
