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PHOTO: RASHED SUMON

Day left frustrated
Sports Reporter
Jamie Day expressed his frustration over the way Bangladesh conceded two goals against Palestine in the opening match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
“It was very frustrating because we had possession of the ball after the throw-in. If we don’t let them out of the area as easy we did then they don’t counter and score. If we don’t give silly free-kicks away then we don’t concede the second. It’s frustrating because if you give such opportunities, they will punish you. We have to learn that going into the next game,” Day said at post-match press conference.
“We must avoid such silly mistakes against Sri Lanka. If we make the same mistakes like we did tonight, then we will be punished,” warned the 40-year-old coach.
Day, however, believes his charges fought well against Palestine enjoying good possession, but finishing made the difference in the match.
“Except for scoring the goals, the boys played well, put the ball in right area. Couple of boys were really very good. We knew it would be a tough game for us. So we know we have to beat Sri Lanka to go to the semifinals and there were lot of positive things to take from the game. However, we did not make a lot of chances to score while they had chances and they took those,” said Day, who believes the second-string Palestine team are a good enough outfit.
“Those who played today are good players. Whether you play against Palestine Olympic team or national team, it is always tough. The player who scored the goal is a good scorer for the national side. If you see the Palestine league and Bangladesh league, any player playing in Palestine league is technically better than Bangladeshi players. Their young players are coming through the system,” opined Day.
Palestine’s assistant coach Fahad Atel reiterated their confidence of winning the title despite 70 percent of the players being new.
“We have won the first match and now looking forward to win the second match,” Atel said. “We know how Bangladesh played and what is their playing style. So we knew we would win the match as we have experienced players.”

Champions ease past error-prone hosts
Sports Reporter
Hosts Bangladesh began their Bangabandhu Gold Cup campaign on the wrong foot following a 2-0 defeat against Palestine in the opening match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Khaled Salem and Layth Kharoub scored a goal in each half as the defending champions took a giant step towards the semifinals ahead of their last group-stage match against tournament’s lowest-ranked side, Sri Lanka, tomorrow.
Having come out of their usual defensive shell, Bangladesh made a fine start to the game with some crisp passing and they fought toe-to-toe against the defending champions, who did not look as strong as they were in the previous edition of the tournament.
However, Palestine eventually proved their superiority with better skill, running, quick movement in the attacking third and their overall tactic to ease past the hosts, who looked jittery in defence which could be blamed for both the goals they conceded.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Day played Saad Uddin in Number 9 position instead of his usual right-wing position in absence of regular striker Nabib Newaz Jibon. The Abahani player tried to unsettle the Palestine defence, but Matin Mia, playing in right-wing, failed to make an impact before being substituted in the second half.
Bangladesh’s early pressure on Palestine produced some corner-kicks and throw-ins, with defender Raihan Hassan taking his usual long throw-ins, but there was hardly any plan of stopping the opposition in transition.
From such a situation, Bangladesh conceded the first goal after having survived a seventh-minute scare. Kharoub whipped in a good cross from the right flank for speedy striker Salem, who brought down the ball inside the box but Tapu Barman made a brilliant clearance to thwart the impending danger.
In the next minute, Bangladesh earned a free-kick from the edge of the box, but Mamunul Islam’s curling effort was parried away for a corner by Palestine’s 6ft 5inch goalkeeper Tawfiq Abuhammad. Bangladesh kept pressing for the lead and earned a number of throw-ins, but it was one of those throw-ins that eventually led them to concede the lead in the 29th minute as the Palestine defence cleared the throw-in quickly and the forwards pounced on in counter-attack.
Availing the clearance from a teammate, Germany-based midfielder Mohammed Darweesh put a defence-splitting through-pass between Tapu and Yeasin Khan and Salem darted into the box to place it clinically to the left-hand side of advancing goalkeeper Ashraful Islam Rana.
Bangladesh then came close to levelling the margin in the 32nd minute, but Tapu saw his diving header off Raihan’s throw-in miss the near post before Palestine threatened twice to double the lead.
After resumption, Bangladesh were expected to up the ante, but they went further down in the 58th minute, thanks again to a fumble by the defenders. Yeasin failed to clear a long-ball from Radwan Abukarash and it fell to unmarked Kharoub, who made no mistake to fire home from inside the six-yard box.
The hosts apparently played the rest of the time without much purpose despite the coach sending two pairs of fresh legs in place of Matin and Mamunul. Those changes, though, had no impact as the defending champions inflicted the same margin of defeat on the hosts that they had in the semi-finals of the last edition.