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Booters end losing run

Bangladesh hold Vietnam

Sports Reporter
Football
Bangladesh national football team will return from Malaysia without accolades, but not in empty hands after holding Vietnam to a 2-2 draw in their last group match in the Merdeka Cup yesterday.
After identical 1-0 defeats to Mozambique's Under-20 side and the Myanmar national team, a draw against the Group B champions came as a relief for Bangladesh, who had lost all three group games in the prestigious tournament last year.
But many believe that like the previous two games, Bangladesh could have had won against Vietnam’s Olympic team but for ill luck and coach Shafiqul Islam Manik's ultra-defensive ploys.
A defensive error — misunderstanding between goalkeeper Aminul and centre-back Nazrul --saw Nguyen Van Khai steal the lead after four minutes at the Shah Alam Stadium in Kuala Lumpur as the Vietnam midfielder was left unmarked inside the box. Aminul had come forward to collect a cross but Nazrul failed to mark Van Khai who edged Aminul for the ball.
Nazrul, who replaced injured Hassan Al Mamun in the three-man central defence, was one of the two changes in the starting line-up.
Bangladesh, who crashed out from contention without any points from the first two games, finally scored their first goal in the tournament when Zahid Hasan Emily levelled the score in the 35th minute.
Overlapping fullback Ariful released a low centre from right and
Emily, whose mistakes cost Bangladesh possible wins in the earlier games, put the ball into the far comer with a spectacular firsttime flick just inside from the penaltyarea.
Zahid Hossain, who came for striker Robin in the starting lineup of a 5-4-1 formation, then put Bangladesh ahead in the 50th minute with a superb solo effort.
The speedy winger raced past three rival defenders and the Vietnam goalkeeper down the right to score and brighten the national team's chances to win a match after two and a half years since their 3-0 victory over Guam in April 2006 at home although it would have not been listed as an international win as the opponents fielded their under-23 team.
Vietnam, who had crushed Myanmar 3-1 and Mozambique 4-0 to ensure a place in the semifinals
SEE PAGE 18 COL 5 FROM PAGE 17
before this game, made three changes to their regular line-up but tournament top scorer Phan Thanh Binh's fourth goal in three matches sealed a point for Mai Duc Chung's side, which trained in China for this tournament.
The equaliser came in the 62nd minute when CS DongThap striker Thanh Binh avoided Nazrul's final charge and fooled the rival defence with a cheeky shot past Aminul.
Manik, yet to come out of his defensive shell in his first assignment as national coach, did not go for a winner in the remaining time as he seemed satisfied with the draw.
Robin replaced Zahid after 76 minutes but (he striker was instructed to play just ahead of the defence line to secure the 2-2 scoreline.
The team will return home after midnight tonight.
Bangladesh squad: Aminul, Ariful, Nazrul, Sujan, Rajani, Waly, Zahid, Arman Aziz, Sharif, Matiur Munna and Emily.