Dhaka:Substitute Mohammad Ibrahim's decisive goal in the 69th minute led Bangladesh to a 1-0 victory over Bhutan in their opening match of the SAFF Championship at the National Stadium on Thursday.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Ibrahim, who entered the game midway through the second half, capitalized on a close-range opportunity after Shamit Shome's header looped in front of the goal. This victory places Bangladesh at the top of Group A.
Bhutan, with no points yet, trails behind as Sri Lanka prepares to play their first match. Each team in the group will play two matches, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals. Bangladesh faced this match without their captain Topu Barman due to an injury during the warm-up, with Jamal Bhuyan stepping up to lead the team and Quazem Shah entering the starting line-up.
Despite dominating the first half with 64 percent possession and 12 shots compared to Bhutan's four, Bangladesh could only manage two shots on target. Right-back Bishwanath Ghosh, playing unusually as a centre-forward, missed several chances, including a header in the 18th minute and a close-range shot in the 25th. Bhutan's Orgyen Wangchuk was hospitalized after a head collision with a Bangladesh defender in the first half.
In the second half, Thomas Dooley made strategic substitutions, bringing Fahamedul Islam on for Foysal Ahmed Fahim and later replacing Jamal and Bishwanath with Ibrahim and Sohel Rana Jr. Ibrahim's entry proved pivotal with his match-winning goal. Additional changes saw Quazem and Zayyan Ahmed substituted by Mohammad Ridoy and Rahmat Mia.
The match began with a ceremonial trophy unveiling by State Minister for Youth and Sports Md Aminul Haque, who was part of Bangladesh's 2003 SAFF Championship-winning team. Bangladesh aims to reclaim the championship, having not won since their 2003 triumph.