Bangladesh U-23 Football team completed their Group D engagement of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup’ 2022 Qualifiers with a frustrating note losing all the three matches to back home empty handed.
In a do or die last match to decide group runners-up, Bangladesh suffered 0-3 goal defeat against Saudi Arabia at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent on Tuesday.
Captain cum defender Soud Abdullah put Saudi Arabia ahead in the 16th minute (1-0) while medio Ziyad Mubarak doubled the margin in the following minute to lead the first half by 2-0 goal.
Another midfielder Aiman Yahya sealed the fate of the match scoring the 3rd goal in the 70th minute for Saudi Arabia (3-0).
In the day’s battle of two winless teams, Saudi Arabia outplayed Bangladesh to keep their hope alive for the 16-team final round as one of the four best runners up team.
Eleven group champions, four best group runners-up and hosts Uzbekistan will play in the 16-team final round.
Earlier, Kuwait smartly clinched the Group D title to qualify for the final round beating Bangladesh by 1-0 goal and Saudi Arabia by 2-1 goal.
In the last Saturday, Bangladesh suffered a humiliating 0-6 gaal defeat against hosts Uzbekistan in a Group D international friendly match, results of which not made any impact in the Group D standings as the hosts Uzbekistan have already qualified for the final round as the hosts.
Uzbekistan played to a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia in another international friendly match in Tashkent last week.
Source: United News of Bangladesh