India beats Bangladesh 2-1, books SAF semi berth in football

Colombo, Aug 19 (UNI) India peaked at the right time and pipped Bangladesh 2-1 in their Pool B swansong to sail into the semifinal of the football competition 10th SAF Games at the Sugathadasa Stadium here today.

India had earlier played a goalless draw with Afghanistan and were held 1-1 by Nepal in the previous match.

Sushil Kumar Singh opened the account for India in the 10th minute and Branco buttressed the tally 13 minutes later. Bangladesh, however, reduced the margin through a spot-kick which their skipper Firoj Mahmud Hossain converted in the second half.

This was clearly the best show by the Indian under-20 outfit, which left out flamboyant Vimal Pariyar and relied on the Sushil-Branco pair and they didn't let down in the end.

Branco had the Bangladesh defence on its toes, and he twice came close to scoring. It was another Branco pile driver that came off a bangle defender and Sushil Kumar Singh scored his second goal of the tournament to earn the 1-0 lead for the side.

India didn't relax after taking the lead and Th Naoba Singh was the architect behind the second goal. It was his inch-perfect cross that found an unmarked Branco in the box and the latter's powerful shot crashed into the net, beating Bangla custodian MN Shakil and India led 2-0 at lemon break.

Despite trailing 0-2, Bangladesh didn't exactly give up and Indian defence suddenly looked brittle with captain Zaidinmawia Hmar being culprit behind conceding the first goal.

It was a routine clearance from the box that saw the Indian skipper handling the ball rather inadvertently and his rival counterpart Firoj didn't make any mistake as he converted the spot kick.

After that, India survived many a tense moment and the game suddenly looked like an edge-of-the-seat thriller. However, nothing untoward happened and it came as music to the Indian ears when the referee sounded the hooter.

India: Shilton Paul (GK), Rakesh Masih, Baljit Sahni, Zaidinmawia Hmar (c ), Reisangmi Vashum, Th Naoba Singh, Sushil Kumar Singh, Branco (Vimay Pariyar), Baldeep Singh, Hirohito Elangbam, Lalmalswam Hmar.

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