Bangladesh national football team have one dream, one hope. The Red and Green are eager to clinch the trophy in the tri-nation tournament, their expectation is to beat the hosts Nepal in the final that kick off at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal at 5:45 pm on Monday. Bangladesh played 23 outings against Nepal so far, out of these, The Red and Green won 13 matches, lost six and four ended with draw.
There was goal draught in the tournament in the round robin league. There was only one goal that was own goal by Kyrgyzstan U-23 defender Ulu Baiman. It was the first encounter of the tournament. Then the other two games was goalless. Strikers failed to score. Therefore, it was one goal in the three matches.
Skipper Jamal Bhuyan& co side have a golden chance to become hero. They should have to win the title. Bangladesh played a goalless draw against the Gorkhalis in their last group encounter on last Saturday.
The Red and Green confirmed their final berth after a 1-0 win over Kyrgyzstan U-23s in their first proceeding.
Nepal played a goalless draw against Kyrgyzstan U-23s in their first match, earned a much-needed point from the Bangladesh game to book their place in the final as the second-best team.
“We keep a clean sheet, well for tonight. I'm looking forward to the final which will be tough. Hopefully, we can get some goals when we play against Nepal in the final and that will be very nice,” Coach Jamie Day said.
He is very worried for the team’s performance; the team cannot score against the Himalayas side. Especially the striker failed to score.
Bangladesh appeared on the field with a completely different playing XI from their last game.
Jamal Bhuyan played as a substitute after half-time in the first match, started the game on the day. Defenders Md Emon and Md Mehedi Hassan made their debuts in the contest.
In the 21st minute, a header from Nepal forward Anjan Bista missed the target after midfielder Tridev Gurung sent him a cross inside the box.
Midfielder Manik Hossain Molla and defender Mehedi failed to send the ball home off a direct free-kick from Jamal in the 37th minute. Three minutes, Jamal’s shot went off the target from a free-kick.
Nepal forwards made several eye-catching efforts before half-time but failed to bag any success.
Nepal continued keeping pressure on Bangladesh's defence after half-time but Bangladesh goalkeeper ShahidulAlamSohel and the defenders successfully kept their post unbeaten and denied all the attempts from the home side.
Bangladesh got a bright chance to score a winner in the 78th minute when they found Nepal goalkeeper cum captain Kiran Kumar Limbu alone in the post.
But substitute forward Mehadi Hasan Royal and midfielder Md Abdullah failed to score off a long pass from defender Yeasin Arafat.