Controversial decision; Bangladesh’s SAFF final dream shatters

Bangladesh National Football Team’s dream to reach the final of 2021 SAFF Championship final has diminished again over ‘controversial decisions’ of the referee as Bangladesh has drawn 1-1 against Nepal. First Bangladesh’s goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico’s red card, then Nepal’s goal from a penalty at the last minute have ended the SAFF journey for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh would reach the final today if they won the match, but Oscar Bruzon’s disciples have left the SAFF Championship by drawing.

The match started at 5 pm Bangladesh time at the National Football Stadium in Male, the capital of Maldives. In the beginning, Bangladesh played a little messy, although forward Sumon Reza scored in the 9th-minute, taking Bangladesh forward in the beginning.

From the left side of the D-box, captain Jamal Bhuyan’s free-kick hit one of the opponent’s players in front of Sumon Raza. Forward Sumon, who was in the empty space, did not make a mistake in finding the goal bar and scored an outstanding goal with a perfect header.

However, the Bengal Tigers could have doubled the lead if Sumon Reza had not missed another ‘very easy’ opportunity. In the first half of the match, however, the ball was on the feet of the Nepalese players most of the time (65%), but Bangladesh did not digest any goal due to the strong defense.

Bangladesh also made several attacks in the second half. But the desired success was not seen. Goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico, on the other hand, was blocking every shot of Nepal. It can be said that Zico became the main enemy of Nepal, but the referee gave him a red card in the 79th minute due to his ‘unintentional’ handball.

The most controversial decision of the match came in 88 minutes of the match. The referee awarded a penalty to Nepal without any clear reason. No evidence of foul was found in the video replay. Anjan Bista made Nepal happy by scoring a goal from a spot-kick. When there were no more goals in the match, Bangladesh left the field with a draw of disappointment.