Booters concede five despite Zico’s efforts
Goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico made some brilliant saves but could not help Bangladesh avert a thumping 5-0 defeat against Asian champions Qatar during their World Cup qualifying match at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday.
Zico, who made his international debut in a freindly against Nepal on November 13, was given the nod ahead of regular shot-stopper Ashraful Islam Rana. And the young keeper had little fault of his own in letting five past him.
Zico was perhaps the best discovery of a match that was expected to be dominated by Qatar. And so they did. With Qatar having 73 per cent ball possession, the scoreline could have been much more devastating had the boy from Cox's Bazar not awed everyone by thwarting at least four to five attempts.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez brought four changes in the squad that beat Bangladesh 2-0 in Dhaka last year. The hosts put pressure from both wings, with forward Akram Hassan Afif causing most trouble down the left. The Bangladesh defence looked vulnerable initially as they were startled by the quick exchanges between the Qatari forwards. But it was either Zico or the Qatari forwards' failure in hitting the target that helped Bangladesh.
Jamie Day's charges had not conceded any goals within the first 20 minutes in any of the World Cup Qualifiers but they could not do it this time against a side, who are 125 places above them in FIFA Rankings. The men in red and green could not even muster a single shot on target.
Qatar came close to taking the lead in the fourth minute when Afif whipped in a cross from the left for Ahmed Alaaeldin, who saw his header ricochet off the post. But Bangladesh could not hold Qatar off for long as Abddel Aziz Hatim made inroad in the ninth minute with his low shot that kissed the post on its way in following a massive deflection off defender Tapu Barman.
Zico blocked a close-range header from Ahmed Alaaeldin in the 11th minute before frustrating Afif in the 32nd minute, giving away just a corner. However, Afif was unstoppable and scored a superb goal from outside the box -- a curling shot that went into the top corner of the far post with Zico left watching.
After resumption, Bangladesh looked to be defending deep inside their half. When Qatar came into the attack, wingers Saad Uddin and Mohammad Ibrahim came down deep to stop two wing-backs of Qatar.
However, the visitors could not resist the home side despite Zico making three brilliant saves and having a lot of training on how to stop Qatari forwards, who added three more goals in the second half.
After being denied by Zico several times, Almoez Ali Abdullah made it 3-0 by converting a penalty after Sohel Rana made an unnecessary foul on substitute Muayed Hassan inside the box. Zico could only put a hand on the ball but could not stop it from going in.
Almoez then struck his second goal from close-range in the 80th minute after Hatim presented a free ball in front of open net while Afif wrapped up the victory in stoppage time.
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