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SAFF U-20 Championship 2024: India Falls to Bangladesh in Semifinal Penalty Shootout

SAFF U 20 Championship 2024
Image Credit: Sportstar
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This was a compelling but eventually sorry performance from India’s U-20 men that saw them knocked out of the SAFF U-20 Championship 2024 after a pulsating penalty shootout 4-3 defeat to Bangladesh in the semi-finals.

Played at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal on Monday, the match was 1-1beat in regular time, with Bangladesh’s Asadul Molla scoring and India’s Ricky Meetei Haobam coming back to level the scoring.

Match Statistics

Category India Bangladesh
Goals Scored 1 1
Shots on Target 5 3
Possession 58% 42%
Corners 7 4

Bangladesh now goes to the final, and the Nepals host on Wednesday.

The substitutes of the Indian team were also visible as they put up a good fight till the end. Still, the hero of the day was the Bangladeshi substitute keeper Mohammed Asif, who made two outstanding saves during the shootout.


A Hard-Fought Contest: Goals from Molla and Haobam

India Falls to Bangladesh

Image Credit: Pixel Sports

  • First Half: Bangladesh took the lead through a goal by Asadul Molla.
  • Second Half: India equalized with a goal from Ricky Meetei Haobam, but neither team could find the winner.
  • Penalty Shootout: Bangladesh won 4-3, with Mohammed Asif emerging as the hero for his two saves.

The last four was an interesting encounter that saw both teams proving difficult to crack down but also came up with flashes of brilliance.

Entering the match, India took dominance, was able to regain the ball more often, and created initial opportunities for scoring.

In the fifth minute, chances came for Korou Singh Thingujam but his header from Ebindas Yesudasan’s cross so nearly went wrong, and this was the beginning of Indians’s bad evening in front of goal.

Bangladesh gradually entered this match, and at this stage of the match, they took advantage of the mistakes of the defenders.

Mohammed Rabby Hossein Rahul chipped a cross for Asadul Molla inside the penalty area, and the Bangladeshi forward put the ball into the net, firing the ball into the bottom right corner to break the deadlock and put Bangladesh ahead 1-0 with a volley past the Indian custodian Priyansh Dubey.

India, however, did not succumb to this kind of pressure and sought to level the score and elsewhere in the second half.

They got their rewards in the 75th minute when the skipper Ricky Meetei Haobam aimed a low shot to the goal post of Bangladesh by piercing through the legs of Bangladesh’s substitute Goalkeeper Asif through a precise pass of Naoba Meitei Pangambam in the midfield.

The equalizer revived the Indian side, but they could not get the winner before the end of regulation time, and the game went to penalties.

Related Article: AIFF ExCo Proposes Inclusion of India U-20 Team in I-League; Discusses Stimac Contract Issue


Penalty Shootout: Bangladesh’s Keeper Becomes the Hero

  • India’s Penalty Takers:
    • Pramveer (Scored)
    • Gwgwmsar Goyary (Scored)
    • Manjot Parmar (Scored)
    • Akash Tirkey (Saved)
    • Thanglalsoun Gangte (Saved)
  • Bangladesh’s Penalty Takers:
    • Mohammed Pias Ahmed Nova (Scored)
    • Moinul Islam Moin (Scored)
    • Shakil Ahad Topu (Scored)
    • Ashraful Haque Asif (Scored)

The match reached 1-1 after 90 minutes of normal play, and the finals then followed 15 minutes of extra time, after which a penalty shoot-out determined the winner.

India’s enter came under pressure when Thanglalsoun Gangte’s attempted penalty was cleared by Bangladesh’s substitute goalkeeper Mohammed Asif who put the Bangladeshi team on the back foot.

Pramveer, Gwgwmsar Goyary, and Manjot Parmar netted the PCs for India, but Asif once again rose to the occasion for Bangladesh and saved the final flick by Akash Tirkey.

This second save finally became the decisive factor because Bangladesh successfully controlled all four of the penalties;

Mohammed Pias Ahmed Nova, Moinul Islam Moin, Shakil Ahad Topu, and Ashraful Haque Asif unhesitatingly scored the goals for Bangladesh and successfully sent the Bangladeshi team to the final phase of the tournament by a 4-3 shootout victory.

Asif showed a heroic performance, much more so since he was a substitute for Bangladesh’s starting goalie, Mehdi Hasan, due to an injury.

His two penalty saves were the thorny in the flesh and this took Bangladesh to the final while India’s dream was cut short.


India’s Near Misses and Bangladesh’s Defensive Grit

The match itself was a driver of missed opportunities for India, who had large expanses of the game and could never capitalize when it mattered most.

Midway through the second half, Korou Singh had a clear chance to level the score, leaving one-on-one with the Bangladeshi goalkeeper.

However, he powered away on target when he attempted a conclusive finish. Several minutes later, a substitute player by the name of Gangte nearly found the back of the net as he cracked a shot and hit the post from outside the eighteen-yard area.

Despite the fact that India made a majority of scoring opportunities, Bangladesh’s defensive play ensured them a shot at the target.

Bangladesh’s Mehdi Hasan, the goalkeeper, was a busy man throughout the match. Even though he had to be replaced by a foul in the middle of the second half, Asif came in for him. 


Australia Wins But India’s Tournament Finishes on a Sour Note

For India, the SAFF U-20 Championship 2024 campaign was sour to the extent. A team of individually talented players, especially in attack, had a horror show of missed opportunities and wasted good performances in most of the match.

The equalizer scored by captain Ricky Meetei Haobam in the second half at least gave Indians some glimmer of hope, but penalty saves by Mohammed Asif were proving to be throat cinematic.

On the other hand, Bangladesh will go into their final match against Nepal after having played such an impressive semi-final match.

India will have to stand up and account for themselves with the information in their head that they were very close to making the final.

From the derby, India’s young, promising stars will learn several hard lessons whenever they look back at the cricketing duel. At the same time, Bangladesh will be happy to be in the final of the SAFF U-20 Championship 2024.

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References:

HindustanTimes.com

TimesofIndia.com

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