The footballers gave a great performance. That is why Bangladesh started with the victory of SAFF Championship Mission. In the opening match of the tournament, the red-green team defeated Sri Lanka by 1-0.
Sri Lanka had earlier met in 2009 in the most prestigious tournament in South Asian football. Enamul Haque's pair of goals helped Bangladesh boys win 2-1. After 11 years, the red-green representatives snatched the victory in the face-to-face battle again.
With just a week to prepare, Spanish coach Oscar Brujan taught the team his own passing football technique. That's a lot of work. In the match against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh held the ball 58 percent of the time. At that time red-green took 15 shots for the goal. 3 of which were on target.
Neither team scored in the first half at the Rashmi Dhandu Stadium in Male, the capital of the Maldives. Jamal Bhuiyan and his gong could not break the Lankan defense fort. In the second half, the goal mouth opened the match.
The boys of the country got a penalty in the 56th minute of the match. Tapu Varman used the opportunity to aim accurately. Bangladesh won the first and only title of the tournament in 2003.
Ducson Puslas touched the ball with his hand to take control of the ball, leaving Mohammad Ibrahim behind. Ducson Puslas left the field after seeing the red card. The Sri Lankan footballer was punished with the second yellow card. Losing strength, the Sri Lankan football team became ten.
Bangladesh is ahead in the rankings, 188th team. And Sri Lanka is 205th. Coach Oscar Brujan's team was ahead in the field to fight. With this, Bangladesh won 11 matches 16 times. And Sri Lanka won four. The remaining two matches remain undecided. Bangladesh also snatched victory in the last match of the two teams. Bangabandhu Gold Cup in 2018 at home.
Next Monday, October 4, Bangladesh will face India, who have won the SAFF record seven times, in their second match.