It was all set up for a Bangladesh victory. Team spirit was supposedly at its highest, the stands were packed with thousands who had braved the winter chill to turn up at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, the opponents were India and the spirit of2003 had been invoked.

But it all turned flat very soon for Bangladesh as a woeful display of football saw them crash out of the SAFF Championship with a lone-goal defeat to a youthful India side.

The hosts looked lost from the beginning and never managed to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, failing to muster a decent shot on target. The Indians in contrast, were sharp and quick and by the end the difference between the sides was clear for all to see.

Except it seems, Bangladesh interim coach Shahidur Rahman Shantoo. The former national goalkeeper's press conference was even more abject that his team's performance as he failed to provide satisfactory responses to even the most basic of queries.

Asked why Bangladesh did not show any urgency to bounce back, Shantoo had no explanation.

"Before the match, everything was going in the right direction and the boys were hundred percent fit, but I still can't understand why they did not show much urgency to come back into the game."

He went on to suggest that India created a single chance all game which they took advantage of, clearly missing the numerous fantastic saves that his captain and goalkeeper Aminul Haque pulled off to

keep the score respectable.

Aminul was one of the few players who could hold his head high after a night in which the Bangladesh side clearly looked over-the-hill. Perhaps the pressure had got to them, but Shantoo was not even sure ifthis was the case.

Asked whether the boys took too much pressure playing before a jam-packed home crowd, Shantoo said, "I have no idea."

The beleaguered coach did get his bearings back for a short while managing to shift tire blame on the players for looking tired and not executing the game plan.

"The boys did not play well. They looked tired the entire game and I will ask them why after returning to the hotel."

Shantoo was perhaps shaken by the fact that he had to be taken into the press conference in policy custody after a section of fans demonstrated their displeasure by throwing bottles onto the pitch.

It was a poor reaction from the faithful, not understandable, but expected as their heroes hardly gave them their money's worth. The goal itself was not a surprise as the Indian's had been threatening from set-pieces all evening.

Robert Lalthlamuana's wicked left-foot deliveries had the veteran Bangladesh defence guessing all night, but the goal came when he teed up his captain Sushil Kumar Singh for a grounder that cut underneath a poorly constructed wall and beyond the despairing dive of Aminul.

"We had prepared for free-kicks, but it seemed that the wall was not in proper place and India availed the opportunity to go ahead," said Shantoo.

And despite being outplayed in all departments Shantoo stopped short of labelling the young side better than Bangladesh.

"I won't go in that direction. What I can say is that we could not play according to our game plan."

Shantoo's counterpart Sukhvinder Singh said that they deserved to win the game and they did not allow the hosts to take charge from the beginning.

"I (old you yesterday (Thursday) that many things play a role when playing against the hosts, who remain under pressure from the home crowd. We played our best and won the game."

"May be they (Bangladesh) did not play well, but we did not allow them to play from the beginning and got the result."

India will now take on Maldives in the final on Sunday, for a chance to win the tournament and provide a firm launching pad for their stars of tomorrow.

TEAMS

Bangladesh: Aminul Haque, Nasirul Islam, Ariful Islam, Rajani Kanta Barman, Wali Faisal, Atiqur Rahman Mishu (Arman Aziz), Mamunul Islam (Mithun Chowdhury), Zahed Parvez Chowdhury, Mehdi Hasan Uzzal (Shahedul Alam), Enamul Haque, Zahid Hasan Emily.

India: Arindam Bhattacharja, Ronaldo Rodrique, Baldeep Singh, Sushil Kumar Singh, Joaquim Abranches, Je Je Lalpekhula, Jibon Singh, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Robert Lalthlamuana, Denzil Franco, Jewel Raja Sheikh.

Yellow Cards: Ariful Islam (Bangladesh), Robert Lalthlamuana (India).

Referee: Adil Ali (Maldives)