The frustration of conceding late goals returned to haunt Bangladesh once again, as they surrendered a win in the dying moments for the second time in three matches — this time against Nepal in a FIFA friendly in Dhaka on Thursday night.
Hamza Choudhury and his teammates were heading toward victory with a 2-1 lead, but Ananta Tamang’s equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time shattered Bangladesh’s hopes.
The night could have been more memorable as Hamza scored his first international brace — a spectacular bicycle kick followed by a calm Panenka penalty — but the late goal shifted the mood once again.
Bangladesh had also come close to securing a crucial point against a stronger Hong Kong side at home in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier last month, only to concede in the 11th minute of added time.
Naturally, conceding late goals became the biggest topic in Thursday’s post-match press conference.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a mental problem because the players definitely want to defend with the same attitude in the 95th minute as in the 25th,” said Bangladesh head coach Javier Cabrera.
“We prepare to defend these situations hundreds of times in training and matches. For whatever reason, today it happened again. But it’s true that it’s happening too often.”
He added, “We are doing our best to defend those actions and the opponent is doing their best to score. It’s a 50-50 situation.”
Cabrera admitted the end was “disappointing” for his side.
“You saw the end again. It was disappointing, especially at the end of the match. From the beginning, controlling the game was difficult for us. We expected them to stay low, but it was much harder for us to progress in the first half than we thought.”
Bangladesh’s performance improved strongly early in the second half following the introduction of Shamit Shome, as Hamza’s two stunning goals quickly put the hosts in control.
But another lapse in stoppage time produced a result Cabrera was far from pleased with.
“We were close to getting a win after some months, and we lost it in the last minute. So definitely not happy,” said the Spaniard.
He emphasized the need to learn from these defensive errors but reminded everyone of the bigger target:
“We need to take the proper conclusions, and let’s not lose focus that the key objective of this window is to get the three points against India.”
Bangladesh will play their fifth Asian Cup qualifying match against India at home on Tuesday.
Hamza and Zayyan Ahmed both left the field against Nepal with what looked like injuries, but Cabrera assured that it was “nothing major” and they “should be fine” for the India match.
The coach also pointed to one positive from the Nepal friendly — Bangladesh’s dominance for large portions of the game — something he hopes to carry into the high-stakes encounter against India.
