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Bangladesh made a goalless draw against Pakistan in the home match of the pre-qualifying round of the Asia Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city Thursday, reports BDNEWS.
To qualify the Asia Cup qualifier, Bangladesh now need a draw against Pakistan in the away match, is billed for Monday at the Peoples Sports Complex in Karachi, Pakistan.
If Bangladesh is able to make a draw on Pakistan soil, they will go for the qualifier.
At a post-match briefing, both the teams' coaches expressed their satisfaction at the result.
Bangladesh Argentine coach Diego Andres Cruciani said we told the boys to play slowly and observed opponent's strategy but they (Pakistan) were finally succeeded in their defensive strategy as they deployed eight booters in the defense-line, and my boys got a little scope to find room.
Players should be given some time to recover the disappointing performance against India in the SAFF Championship final.
Replying to a query, Cruciani believed that Pakistan would be under pressure in their home match as Bangladesh beat them before ten days at the same venue.
After the final whistle, Cruciani created an unexpected incident with chasing referee Rizwan Ul Haq. The Argentine, however, later said that he could not control himself and sorrow for the incidents.
Besides, the home team picked up at least dozen of corner kicks, but failed to utilise any of them as Pakistani defenders -- Tanveer, Naveed, Mehmood and Iran - along with skipper-cup-custodian Jaffar Khan foiled those sitters strongly.
Bangladesh could have taken a lead in the first half injury minutes, but a diving header from Khanchan inside the box narrowly missed the target.
Bangladesh again came close to score two minutes into the second half, as medio Munna needed a tap on a right side Hasan Al Mamun cross from the handshaking distance, but Munna failed to connect it properly.
Yellow cards: Arman (Bangladesh) and Abdul Azizi (Pakistan).
Bangladesh: Aminul Islam , Hasan Al Mamun, Rajani Kanta Barman, Mohammad Sujan, Firoj Mahmood Titu, M Arman, Arif Khan Joy, Motiur Munna, Rokonuzzaman Khanchan (Mehedi Hasan Ujjal 76 minutes), Alfaz Ahmed, and Ariful Kabir Farhad (Zahid Hossain Emily 66 minutes).
Pakistan: Jaffar Khan, Tanveer Ahmed, Imran Hossain (Safi Ullah 65 minutes), Abdul Aziz (Arif Mahmood 88 minutes), Farooq Shah, Zahid Hossain, Naveed Akram, Muhammad Essa, Mehmood Khan, Imran Niazi and Mohammad Imran.
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